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I Will Cut You If You Muddy This Thread

You are here: Home / Archives for I Will Cut You If You Muddy This Thread

Respite Open Thread: More Holiday Fun

by TaMara (HFG)|  December 17, 202012:56 pm| 44 Comments

This post is in: Pet Blogging, Something Good Open Thread, I Will Cut You If You Muddy This Thread

Time for another round of submissions! Note for next week: I’m going to do a recipe post with cookies and such, so if you want to send me holiday photos of some of your treats, meals or edible gifts, that would be fun.

On to the festive photos. This is one of my favorites, I’m in awe of these eggs from Cheryl from Maryland:

Respite Open Thread: More Holiday Fun 2

Re Holiday Joy — during the 1960s and 1970s, when I was a child, my mother was a regular consumer of Womens magazines dedicated to homemaking and enriching your children.  Her favorite was McCalls, which had regular crafting articles for semi talented children.  I was my mother’s guinea pig, which actually was genius on her part as I became an art historian and had a 30 year career in the arts with the Smithsonian Institution.
The craft experience which I still do today was painting blown eggs for Easter, which I as a teen turned into Christmas Decorations.  Many of those I still have are at least 45 years old.  My mother got the idea from McCalls magazine where Betsy McCall painted blown eggs and hung them on tree branches
The eggs are regular grocery store eggs, size extra large.  Take them out of the fridge for a couple of hours, use a metal lacer for a turkey or similar to poke holes at the top and bottom.  Use the lacer to punch the yolk and stir the interior egg stuff up so it is as liquid as possible.  Over a bowl, blow on the top hole until the egg contents come out.  My mother had great lung power and had useful egg contents for brownies, etc.  Me, I throw away the contents.  Rinse the egg with water through the holes, set in an egg carton on the counter to drip for a few days.
Then, draw what you want on the egg.  I use pencil, then paint with watercolors (classic elementary school Binney and Smith), with black acrylic paint to give the work an illuminated manuscript/wood cut look.  I use thin color washes on the egg and blot the color often with a tissue.
After you like what you did, either use a twist tie to make a hanger, or use a long needle, metallic thread and beads to make a hanger.  I can crochet, so I make a chain with beads threaded through the egg.  I’m sorry I can’t explain how I do it as I’ve been doing it for so long.
Respite Open Thread: More Holiday Fun 1
So, some images. I was and still am a devotee of European art from about 1300 to 1500, which I think you can tell.  Also King Arthur and fantasy.  My mother-in-law has about 30 eggs on a tree with the nativity story (the image shows mostly angels).  I have about 45; various cousins and friends have some as well.  

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Respite Open Thread: More Holiday FunPost + Comments (44)

Respite Open Thread: Holiday Fun

by TaMara (HFG)|  December 10, 202012:32 pm| 97 Comments

This post is in: Nature & Respite, Something Good Open Thread, I Will Cut You If You Muddy This Thread

First of all – thank you all so much for your kind words about Penelope. I read each and every one of them. So much love for such a charming duck. My honest thought before I posted was, man, I’ve got to stop introducing you guys to my gang because it’s just too traumatic for everyone when we lose one. Which is inevitable when you have a house full of rescues of varying ages. As I said to a friend a few days before we unexpectedly lost Penelope Pearl, love is a risk, no doubt about it, but a risk well worth taking.

Now on to the festivities!

=====================

The other day I asked you to show me your holidays and happily, you responded.

First up from lurker Wendy:

Dorothy Winsor actually inspired this idea, when she shared this video:

Omnes sent me these wonderful memories:

My parents go all out for Christmas. Myriad decorations, ornaments gathered over the years, a top quality ham from a butcher shop, smoked salmon from the same place, homemade Boston baked beans (from the original Durgin Park recipe before they started putting too much sugar in them), homemade pate, a variety of cheeses, many types of homemade cookies (my mother has cut back over the past couple of years, there are still at least three kinds) and homemade vanilla custard trifle. Depending on the year, they can have anywhere from nine to twenty-five people come over. As the elder son and the only one who needed to travel more than a half hour to get there, I arrive a day or so early to try to help. Most of the time, I offered but got told that whatever is being done is “really just a one person job and I kind of like doing it.” So bartending and the two jobs I mention below are my contributions to the feast – plus my charm and and wit.

Respite Open Thread: Holiday Fun 1

I am including a picture of the tree at my parents’ house from the morning of Christmas Day. As people are getting everything ready, one of my jobs was to bring out the presents and arrange them under the tree.

Respite Open Thread: Holiday Fun

The other picture is a slightly blurry one of the vanilla custard trifle that my father makes every year. One of my other jobs on Christmas morning is to serve as assistant trifler as we assemble the thing.

The rest of Christmas Day can be a blur of snacks, opening gifts, and the whole dinner thing, but I really like that moment when the presents are under the tree, the trifle and other things are ready, the yard is covered with snow, and the rest of the people are just about to arrive. I can’t get there anymore, but at this moment I can still feel a bit of the magic of Christmas from when I was a child.

DavidG sent along cutie Morty in a bag:

Respite Open Thread: Holiday Fun 2

I enjoyed this Rabbi this morning on one of the local news stations. He’s charming and full of great information.

Here’s my Dane-deer from 2004:

Respite Open Thread: Holiday Fun 3

Shelby (Harlequin in back), Einstein on the left and Duncan on the right. Shelby was found running on the interstate, Einstein and Duncan were owner surrender – bonded brothers I fostered in an attempt to see if they could be separated. Those boys were my very first foster fails. ❤

And finally, if you missed this from Anne Laurie this morning, don’t miss it now. It completely turned my day around.

 

I’m still open to sharing more holiday memories, so email me (whats4dinnersolutions at live dot com). I do respond to each email, so if you sent something and don’t hear back from me, it means I did not receive it, so try again!

Respite open thread

Respite Open Thread: Holiday FunPost + Comments (97)

Respite Open Thread: You Do The Crime

by TaMara (HFG)|  August 22, 202012:09 pm| 79 Comments

This post is in: Duck Blogging, Nature & Respite, Pet Blogging, Something Good Open Thread, I Will Cut You If You Muddy This Thread

I TOLD you ducks were shady.

So, of course, this came across my FB feed yesterday:

Respite Open Thread: You Do The Crime

This guy is my new hero:

Mark Luther: For everyone inquiring, these two fellas, now named Denzil and Beau, were owner surrenders that were being rehomed to Oinking Acres Farm Sanctuary here in Indiana by a couple that recognized they were not equipped to care for them properly! With the owner unable to self-transport, I volunteered to go and pick them up! However, they were Jumbo Pekins (size of a Goose), and they wouldn’t fit in any carrier! So we got crafty and made a box seat for to keep them contained for the drive!

https://www.facebook.com/oinkingacres/

Seems he does this tranport a LOT:

Respite Open Thread: You Do The Crime 1

Oinking Acres Farm Rescue doing their best to rescue and educate:

More ducks!!! I got a call today about 3 ducks in need of rescue. We quickly arranged transportation, huge thanks to my friend Mark! He is becoming quite the expert in duck wrangling 🤩 We definitely need more kind hearted, selfless people like Mark in the world.

These big babies were rescued off a neighborhood pond. Domestic ducks CANNOT fly. They are NOT a wild animal. They cannot survive on their own. Please please please stop dumping your ducks!! These guys were lucky enough to have been rescued before they were mauled or eaten by a wild animal.

Another big thank you to my friend Mark who has been transporting ducks for the third night in a row 😂😂🌟🦆

Book ’em, Daffy!

Respite open thread.

Respite Open Thread: You Do The CrimePost + Comments (79)

Sunday Respite Open Thread: Lots of Babies

by TaMara (HFG)|  August 2, 202010:42 am| 41 Comments

This post is in: Nature & Respite, I Will Cut You If You Muddy This Thread

Here’s a little escape for you. Lots more wildlife trail camera videos on their page here.

My cousin, his wife, and a group of turtle volunteers in North Carolina spent their hurricane prep time helping loggerhead baby turtles make their way to the ocean. I’m a little jealous.

Sunday Respite Open Thread: Lots of Babies

I may or may not have a recipe thread tonight. I have a lot to catch up on before the week starts again. Dad update: he’s doing really well, meeting all his rehab goals and surprising no one in his determination to get home. Including making me take everything home we had brought to make him comfortable. That’s for losers who are staying in rehab. LOL

And yes, I did get to visit him. The facility allows one visitor a day. Fully vetted and masked.

Medical care in the era of Covid-19 is just an added level of stress. But being in a medical facility, you begin to realize that when there are no active infections, masks and handwashing are enough. So I’ve become less panicked every moment of every day. Now if I could just convince people to wear masks when they visit my mom.

Respite open thread. Share some fun things that get you through the days.

And remember to be kind to yourself…and others.

 

Sunday Respite Open Thread: Lots of BabiesPost + Comments (41)

Much Needed Respite Open Thread: Duck, Dogs and Kitteh

by TaMara (HFG)|  July 7, 20202:49 pm| 55 Comments

This post is in: Cat Blogging, Dog Blogging, Duck Blogging, Pet Blogging, Something Good Open Thread, I Will Cut You If You Muddy This Thread

I’m going to do my best to ignore the news/internet today. Like everyone else, the last week has really taken a toll on my psyche. So here is some of what keeps me sane:

Much Needed Respite Open Thread: Ducks, Dogs and Kitteh 2

Two and a half years and I’ve yet to convince her she’s not a cat. My poor couch.

Much Needed Respite Open Thread: Ducks, Dogs and Kitteh

Here’s Gabe wondering when I’m going to put the clean sheets back on his bed.

Much Needed Respite Open Thread: Ducks, Dogs and Kitteh 3

Bixby, exhausted after a night of fireworks. Which never bothered him, until this year, but he’s been really out of sorts since I got sick and I am not allowed out of his sight. Ever.

Much Needed Respite Open Thread: Ducks, Dogs and Kitteh 1

I found these at the store a few weeks ago. Striped peppers. Very pretty, normal orange pepper flavor. One ended up in stir fry, the other in a salad.

Much Needed Respite Open Thread: Ducks, Dogs and Kitteh 4

And finally, here is Penelope getting her morning scritches.

That’s it – the other ducks and kittehs declined to offer you respite today.  Maybe another day…

Notes: I have a Guest Post from Werebear coming up and I’m also gonna need some camera advice real soon, when I can stick around and participate in a thread. Thanks to everyone who gave me great advice on the Chromebook earlier.

That’s it! Respite open thread.

Much Needed Respite Open Thread: Duck, Dogs and KittehPost + Comments (55)

I Need Some Advice: Chromebook

by TaMara (HFG)|  June 7, 202010:04 pm| 114 Comments

This post is in: Bleg, I Will Cut You If You Muddy This Thread

Anyone have any experience with Chromebooks? I’m trying to find a decent laptop (with keyboard) for an elderly relative.

I’ve been looking at 15 inch Chromebooks because their PC was making them crazy as every microsoft update would mess up their settings. Chromebook looks like it runs like a PC without all the MS bullshit. So no learning curve.

They are frail and would rather not deal with those hassles, just wants to surf the internet and keep in touch with family and friends.

Would love to know your thoughts if you’ve used one and maybe answer some questions for me.

Otherwise, if you could just skip over this thread, I’d appreciate it.

I miss Alain, who I would have sheepishly bugged with this question…

Thanks!!

I Need Some Advice: ChromebookPost + Comments (114)

Respite Thread: Here, Kitty, Kitty!

by TaMara (HFG)|  June 2, 20203:01 pm| 83 Comments

This post is in: Nature & Respite, Something Good Open Thread, I Will Cut You If You Muddy This Thread

Respite Thread: Here, Kitty, Kitty!

So imagine walking into your garage and finding this under your car?! And how many of you actually check under your car before you back out. This happened in my little town yesterday.

Respite Thread: Here, Kitty, Kitty! 2

 

He was just a young’un – probably under two – and he was safely tranquilized and relocated.

Respite Thread: Here, Kitty, Kitty! 1

You can see how small (relatively!) he is in this photo. Probably less than a hundred pounds.

We have our share of wildlife here – I believe I’ve told the story before of how I was sitting on my favorite bench near the ponds where I would cycle and a couple was walking toward me and I heard “See that bench where that lady is sitting, that’s where I saw the mountain lion” – yikes!

Since I’ve lived here we’ve had a juvenile moose wander through town, a deer try to go shopping a the local grocery store, along with the occasional bear and mountain lion. You just never know what you’re going to get living downstream from a mountain river (they follow it down, then get lost in the suburbs, poor things).

FYI, if you want to see wildlife, stay far, far away from me. I swear I’m a wildlife repellant (except maybe birds of prey). Hikes, despite my companions’ desire, are big animal free.

Although we did find a moose, once, on the side of road…

Respite Thread: Here, Kitty, Kitty! (stockpile)

Much needed respite open thread

 

Respite Thread: Here, Kitty, Kitty!Post + Comments (83)

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