Saturday encore ~ Christmas caroling with a Sock Monkey

I made this video last year at Christmastime, and it is by far the funniest thing that has ever come out of my camera. 

If you're in need of a gut-busting laugh today, this might do the trick. 

*** 

We have my sister to thank blame for this one. She sent me a Sock Monkey. That sings Jingle Bells. Sort of. Squeeze his left hand and he breaks into song and wiggles around and makes me laugh so hard I can hardly stand it. Of course I had to introduce him to the whole herd. Here's what happened.

Catless in New Mexico

I buried Snapper yesterday. Damnit. He'd been struggling with feline asthma since April. 

The medicine stopped working, his quality of life went south over the weekend, 

and I took him to the vet late yesterday to meet the youth in Asia. 

And as long as I'm being Debbie Downer, I might as well 'fess up about Rosebud. I buried her in August. 

She was fine one minute, gone the next. I suppose that's not unusual for 18-year-old cats, 

but it was shocking nonetheless and I didn't feel like talking about it at the time. Still don't.

I did tell you about Daffodil's passing in May. It's been a very bad year for cats here. 

This is what happens when you bring animals into your life at about the same time 

and they grow old together and all decide to leave together. 

So this is the first time in 18 years that a cat has not been underfoot. It's very, very strange, and the house is feeling too big for Smooch and I. We'll adjust. But we also may take a few days off to get used to the idea. And watch the Weather Channel 24/7. Because my woes aren't even a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of things, and we're hoping all our friends back east, especially Don Estorbo, are safe.

Naptime is a contagious, group activity

Every day at 11:30, I take a short break from my paying job to go outside
and spend a few precious moments with my herd.

My break time often coincides with Wynonna's nap time,

She's such a powerful influence on us all.

When she relaxes, we all want to relax.

Were it not for the demands awaiting me back in my office, 

I'd be tempted to take a nap myself,

but somebody stole my chair.

The "All Eyes are On You" Contest

1. Because Rosebud and Snapper were feeling excluded when Daffodil got her own post this week and I got to thinking that you all might be feeling excluded because I rarely reply to your individual comments, but I (and my parents) appreciate them more than you will ever know, and we even discuss them during our weekly phone call, and my mom keeps asking me who all these new readers are and I have to confess that I honestly don't know but they seem like such nice people.

2. Because I love stream-of-consciousness sentences.

3. Because it's almost spring, though you would never know it by the weather here yesterday when it snowed all damn day and the wind blew so hard that part of the freeway was closed because the blowing dust was too thick to drive through and when I learned about that, I e-mailed Justina so she wouldn't get stuck in traffic when she went home for lunch to feed the Boyz and Gracie because they would be so upset if she didn't show up to give them their hay and isn't it about time that we all got together for another donkey playdate?

4. Aren't you glad that I usually edit my thoughts when I write a post?

5. Because the new season of "Mad Men" starts on Sunday, March 25, which really makes me happy because Sundays haven't been the same since the second season of "Downton Abbey" ended and it's going to be something like nine more months until the third season starts and we get to meet Lady Mary's maternal grandmother Shirley MacLaine, who I don't think will stand a chance against Lady Violet because Maggie Smith is the best actress ever and the reason I want to be a Dowager Countess when I grow up, though I confess to never knowing what "dowager" meant until I googled it during season one.

6. Does it seem like I watch too much TV? I don't, really. But when I find a series I like, I get a little fixated.

7. Because Dave, husband of Peggy in Missouri who alerted me last July of a screaming deal on Groupon for a gallery-wrapped canvas print which subsequently became the prize in the "Getting to Know You" contest, alerted me to a screaming deal for another gallery-wrapped canvas print and it seemed only fitting to use it as the prize for this contest.

8. Because I ran out of stuff to blog about this week and I've been keeping this contest in my pocket to pull out for the next time I ran out of blog fodder.

So for all of those reasons, I am giving away a 16" x 20" gallery-wrapped photo canvas of the 7MSN image of your choice. Here's the deal:

Leave a comment on this post telling me and the other readers of this blog something that made you happy this week.

Lurkers, this is a another free pass to join the 7MSN community. I know you're out there. Don't be shy.

THE RULES

One entry per person. No entries after 7 pm Mountain time on Monday, March 12. Winner will be chosen at random and announced Tuesday morning. If you post your comment anonymously, please include your name or initials in the comment so I can identify you if you win.

THE PRIZE

A 16" x 20" gallery-wrapped canvas from CaféPress of your favorite photograph from this blog. If you don't have a favorite or have no inclination to go searching for one, which I totally understand, you can let me know your favorite 7MSN character and I will offer up several options from which to choose.

Good luck!

Wait until dark

This new camera is dangerous. It allows me take pictures in the dark – no flash required. 

Daffodil used to think she could lay on the couch and watch tv, 

safe from the prying eyes of the paparazzi. Not anymore.

Smooch: My couch. 

Me: Smooch, it's not nice to chase Daffodil. She wasn't hurting a thing. Jealousy does not become you.

Smooch: But "Downton Abbey" is about to start and you know it's my favorite show.

Me: Mine, too, but that's beside the point.

Daffodil: You'd better put that damn dog outside before "Breaking Bad" comes on.

Snapper: My dreams are better than any of your tv shows.

Anyway, once I realized how great this camera works in the low light inside the house, 

I had to take it outside after dark to see what would happen.

You're probably thinking, "it wasn't dark when she took these."

But it was. Honest. This camera magically compensates for the lack of light.

You just can't get these colors in the daytime.

So my picture-taking window of opportunity has expanded exponentially with this camera. 

No more watching tv in the evenings, I'll be outside playing with my camera instead.

Except on Sunday nights.

Looking back

2011. It was a mighty good year at the 7MSN. There were a whole lot of ups and only the occasional down. Yesterday I went back through every stinkin' post from 2011 to help me remember all the things that happened. Did you know that studies show blogging is an effective treatment for memory loss? Ok, maybe I made that up, but seriously, a huge benefit of daily blogging is being able to look back on a period of time and reminisce.

I selected one picture from every post I published in 2011 and compiled them in chronological order, more or less, in this video. Then I edited a bunch of them out because nobody in their right mind would sit through a video that long.

Thanks for sticking with me throughout the year. Your friendship means more to me than you will ever know, because I'm not very good at expressing that touchy-feely stuff. I hope some of these snippets will jog your memory as they've jogged mine, and we can smile together about the adventures we've shared this year.

Christmas caroling with a Sock Monkey

We have my sister to thank blame for this one. She sent me a Sock Monkey. That sings Jingle Bells. Sort of. Squeeze his left hand and he breaks into song and wiggles around and makes me laugh so hard I can hardly stand it. Of course I had to introduce him to the whole herd. Here's what happened.




Thank you, sister, and Merry Christmas to you all.

On the twelfth day of Christmas

Thanks for sticking with us all year, particularly through these last 12 days. We'd be inviting you all over to go carolling tonight if you lived a little closer. We could serenade the coyotes. Anyway, all of us here at the 7MSN send you our very best Christmas wishes.

xoxoxo,

LC, Smooch, Hank, George, Alan, Wynonna, Rosebud, Daffodil, Snapper, Clara, Lorena and Peach

On the eleventh day of Christmas

Saturday encore ~ Mon petite fleurs and a few thoughts on Photoshop

Daffodil, Rosebud and Snapper do not get their fair share of time on this blog. I will try to do better in that regard. In the meantime, here's a post from November 2009 to assuage my guilt.

The feline bouquet was arranged for dinner.

Daffodil sat atop the washer, looking like the prim and polite pile of purr she pretends to be:

Rosebud relaxed on the dryer, with her one big ear and one little ear (a story for another time), 

staring soulfully into my eyes.

Snapper (officially Snapdragon) snarled while he waited for me to snag his dinner and stop snapping pictures:

The lighting was perfect, and the felines were looking their expressive best, save for the yucky white appliances, the electric cords, and the not-so-flattering paint color on the walls behind them.

Enter Photoshop.

Applying textures in Photoshop seems to be all the rage these days, so I thought I'd give it a try. I like what this texture* does to these images. Almost makes me want to repaint the laundry room.

Photoshop is to today's digital photographer what the darkroom was to yesterday's film photographer – a tool to make a good photograph better, or to express or enhance one's style. I use it all the time, if for no other reason than to remove the specks that show up in the sky because I neglected to clean the camera lens.


*Texture is courtesy of Jessica Drossin Photography , via the MCP Actions site. Thank you, Jessica and Jodi.

Set in concrete

I received an e-mail over the weekend from a reader who had a question that she thought was too boring to put in the comments: "What is the floor of your house made of?" I didn't think it was a boring question at all because it gave me the opportunity to wax poetic about my floor just as I was, well, waxing my floor.


The floor of my house is stained concrete – it's the actual concrete slab on which the house is built, stained to this pretty color. A brightener was added to the concrete as the slab was poured, then the builder applied the stain. I had him score the concrete to look like tile - 12" squares in the dining room and kitchen and 24" squares in the living room. Each of the other rooms is scored 6" from the baseboards, more or less to define the spaces.


As the house has settled, a few cracks have appeared, which are to be expected. I think they add character and charm. I keep hoping that grass will eventually sprout through the cracks. Imagine what a conversation piece that would be.


I love my floor. It may be my single most favorite part of the house. It has texture and irregularity. It is indestructible. It is energy efficient because of its geothermal mass, whatever that is. It is pretty.


My stained concrete floor is also very easy to clean, if you're into that sort of thing. Which I'm not. Pick the right color and the dirt doesn't even show. Every couple of years, you're supposed to "reseal" it. Concrete is very porous so the sealant protects the surface. I spent most of Friday doing this chore. The resealing part was easy, the moving out all of the furniture part - not so much. But in the process, I fell in love with my floor all over again. It looks shiny and brand new.

And now the dust bunnies tumble ever so much faster across the surface.