Still Life, With Cats

Yesterday there was nothing planned, which felt positively decadent after the last week. So I did a bunch of knitting, and we watched a little TV, and Richard went to the grocery store in preparation for the week ahead.

Today I had work, but it was a very quiet day because almost everyone was off on PTO, and I do admit to pondering more than once that I really ought to have just taken it off too. But I’ve got an entire week off to look forward to, starting tomorrow, so I persevered.

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Here’s the puzzles from today and yesterday.

Seems like this poor lady could have used that gift a couple hours earlier.

I love the absolute enthusiasm on some of their faces.

‘Tis the season for Holidailies.

Yesterday and today have consisted of working and knitting. Knitting is basically what I’ll be doing in all my spare time now until early next week. Perhaps next time I decide to make things I should start earlier than just a week before, hmm?

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The last two days of puzzles. I’m highly amused that the elves can be very very quiet when they want to, and then in the next moment smash things with wild abandon.

‘Tis the season for Holidailies.

For many years now, my knitting group has done a combination cookie exchange and Santa exchange, where we each bring something yarn/knitting related, and then do a random gift swap. But this year it was hard to find a date that worked for everyone.

So instead, tonight, just a few of us gathered at one house. We ate cookies (which some of us had made anyway, despite deciding there weren’t enough to do an official cookie exchange, and we knitted, and we caught up on each other’s lives, and it was lovely.

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Pretty sure that’s a toolbox.

‘Tis the season for Holidailies.

This afternoon we hosted a board game / cookie exchange gathering. We’ve got a regular group that’s met monthly for a while now, and when I suggested we do a cookie exchange for December, everyone was enthusiastically on board.

There were cinnamon coffee cookies, eggnog cookies, lemon bars, dark chocolate cherry cookies, and gochujang caramel cookies, and mini gingerbread whoopie pies with cream cheese filling.

Also there was a veggie tray as a nod to health, but let’s face it, today was all about the cookies.

I was also going to make the one remaining GBBO bake (opera cake) but ran out of time so instead I made some tiramisu fudge, which although delicious, didn’t completely set, so was more like thick frosting than fudge.

The crowning glory of the afternoon, however, was the Cat Butt Pie.

Why no, none of us made jokes about probing things when the pie was cut, because we are far too mature…oh who am I kidding, probe jokes *abounded*, because we are all grown adults with senses of humor.

Anyway. Many cookies were consumed, and games were played, and more than once we were all laughing hysterically, so it was a very good day.

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Oops, I don’t think this car care set is going to be up to the job.

‘Tis the season for Holidailies.

I’ve got some social events coming up that include cookie exchanges, so today I cranked out a whole mess of cookies in preparation.

I also went out to dinner with a friend (delicious Thai food), and we attended the Kitka concert in Davis.

Kitka is a women’s ensemble based out of Oakland, CA. Their main focus is on Eastern European style music. Tonight’s concert was a series of songs from the country of Georgia, which they visited recently in order to attend a festival and learn from actual Georgian choirs.

They are absolutely fantastic, and have an incredible sound, with all the voices blending perfectly together. Here’s just a few of the songs from the concert to catch your interest.

If they perform anywhere near you, I’d highly recommend checking them out.

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This fox looks quite pleased with herself.

‘Tis the season for Holidailies.

We put the trees up a week or so ago, with the usual assistance.

Today we finally got around to decorating them.

Here is the tree for the cats.

It is decorated with jingle balls, and also cats.

And here is the tree that is also for the cats.

The decorating scheme for this tree includes sparkle balls, crinkle balls, and large grey ornaments that move amid the branches at will.

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This lady doesn’t seem all that thrilled with her brand new lawnmower.

‘Tis the season for Holidailies.

Is there anything better than soup on a cold day?

How about soup with a big hunk of freshly baked soda bread?

I made a batch of ginger carrot soup yesterday, plus a rustic loaf of soda bread. Both were super easy to throw together, both filled the house with delicious aromas, and both made enough for a very comforting and satisfying lunch today.

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Took me a moment to figure out that this guy is on a boat, which is why the gift is so disturbing.

‘Tis the season for Holidailies.

Today was a mostly usual day – work, chores, etc. – but then i got two different phone calls with much anticipated news. More on those in the next few days.

In the meantime, I feel like today’s jigsaw is an accurate representation of us attempting to decorate a Christmas tree, except instead of having a present hurled in from the window, we just have extremely excitable cats.

‘Tis the season for Holidailies.

We had tentative plans to put up the tree today, but instead, after work, we camped out on the sofa and watched holiday baking competitions and the latest episode of Mistletoe Murders. Which, while not as productive as planned, was still a nice way to end a day.

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Much like these mice, I, too, would be very excited to receive a giant box of cheese.

‘Tis the season for Holidailies.