Busted! Caught Red-Handed ... er ... Red-Pawed!

 Today started out bright and sunny, and Miss Boots actually ventured out onto our balcony to check it out.

Above is as far as she went.  Apparently at minus 15, any humans/dogs/wildlife invading our back yard can bloody well have at it!  Bootsy figured her energies were much better served coming back in and warming her paws on her hu-mom (who was still in her jammies at the time).

She has grown into a very loving kitty ... when she doesn't have an ulterior motive for the snuggle.  I've grown to be suspicious, and for once had my camera right at my side and caught her in the act ...

... trying to steal my bling!  Okay, so it's only an inexpensive little silver pendant, not fabulously expensive diamonds or anything, but this cat REGULARLY tries to steal my jewelry!  She gets up on me when she thinks I'm asleep and tugs at whatever earring or ring or whatever happens to be visible outside of the bed covers.  A necklace is usually the object of her affection when she snuggles on me, and heaven forbid I should neglect to put jewelry away in a CLOSED jewelry box or drawer the very second I take it off.  Same with barrettes and pony tail holders.  This cat HAS A BLING THING!  And what does she do with all her treasures?

Everything she finds (steals) through the night ends up under the dining room table.  Here is this morning's collection:  a pine cone (from a basket on the coffee table), a ball of wool (from my knitting basket), a sock monkey arm (also from knitting basket), a pen (who knows where that was), an unopened package of bias tape (from my sewing machine table), assorted cat toys (that were in HER basket), and front right, AN EARRING that was mysteriously IN MY LEFT EAR LOBE when I went to bed last night!  It's not like this critter doesn't have toys of her own.  It would sure be interesting to know who this cat was in her previous life/lives! 

I have to keep this bit of new knitting well hidden from the beast.  It's kid mohair / silk and wants to grow up to be a scarf and a gift for someone special.  She thinks it's EXTRA SOFT.

So I did go and buy myself a pair of new boots.  Nice little short suede leather dress boots.  As you can see above, WE HAVE SNOW, so it will be boots from now until spring.  (Apparently I didn't do such a great job ironing my grey dress pants ... where did that weird crease come from?) 

So I'm going into work today to PAINT.  We have decided we need a feature wall in our front office on which to display awards, plaques, and special certificates.  It's going to be the brightest royalist BLUE possible.  The rest of our office walls are VERY pastel pinkish-mauve, so a blue feature wall should really stand out in the crowd.  Have a great weekend, y'all!

Winter arrives

Winter made its first serious attempt last Saturday.  The roads and sidewalks looked like this ...

... slippery and sloppy to get around in as the temperature hovered right at the freezing mark.  It was very pretty later in the day as the sun disappeared and what had been water drips earlier solidified into ice.

Like rows of little diamonds.  My cheap little digital camera didn't do it justice!

Last Saturday happened to be one of those days when you officially get a year older.  I like to keep pretty quiet about the event, so took myself out for a glass of wine ...

... and some dinner at a local establishment.  It was Szhechuan-style chicken.  Very good.  I had a second glass of wine and read my book and felt quite happily relaxed after a stressful work week.  Just what I needed!

This morning, Miss Boots opted to climb into her "cozy cave" ...

... a fake-fur cube with a hole in one side ... after breakfast instead of bugging me to get out on the balcony where she usually spends some time telling off any passing dogs or wildlife.  Smart cat!  It looked like this when I left for the bus ...



... about 8:30 am with blowing snow and about 10 degrees below zero.  Minus 10 is not particularly uncomfortable ... okay, at least not for me ... I'd rather have cold than heat any day, and that's probably why I'm happy living up here in The North!  However, my feet (who totally prefer to spend their days nekkid) were not at all happy being confined in these ...

... knowing that they will probably be so confined until April or so next year!  My coworkers were all waiting to look at my feet this morning to see if I actually had boots on as I always push it with footwear wearing sandals well after frost and shoes well into winter.

Note to self:  those are really crappy looking boots ... quit being such a cheapskate and go buy yourself a dressier pair already!

With today's not-so-balmy temperatures I discovered something disturbing ...

The cable of my Denise Circular Knitting Needles WOULDN'T BEND!  As much as I like knitting while waiting for the bus and riding the bus, I was a little afraid to force it to bend for fear of snapping it in half.  Time to revert back to good old serviceable bamboo single-pointed knit needles!

Have a great day y'all ... stay warm!