Notes From ABroad

Monday, February 9, 2015

Just Us Girls (the Snowbound Diaries)

Minette and I are snowed in again.
It has been snowing all night and coming down pretty hard right now.
The Blue Jays and Sparrows are vying for their spot on the one little area on the dining room porch that has no snow on it.
I go out there and sweep off the snow and throw out toast crumbs, popcorn and whatever I can find that might appeal to birds. I ran out of seed and can't get out to the store.
So they can have some exotic new tastes while we wait for the snow to end.
( I hope it ends before August)...

The house is as clean as it can be. I will dust and then I think Minette and I will curl up in a nest of blankets on the living room sofa and read. I have an excellent book that I want to finish and I am considering baking something.

I made Chocolate Chip Cookies yesterday .. thank goodness, I have no appetite, baking is just a cozy way of passing the time...otherwise, when the snow plows leave and the roads are clear and I can get out of my driveway, I will not be too big to get into the car .. full of cookies and chocolate.
(chocolate supplies are running low .. oh my)

Minette will need therapy by Spring .. she watches the birds from morning until night.
I have a small porch off the dining room, with that wall of glass, she has a complete unobstructed view of birds hopping around ... right there but out of reach. She is small, she cannot cope with such frustration. I closed the drapes and walked through the room and saw that little tail, sticking out from under the drapes, twitching .. swishing back and forth .. poor baby cat.

While snowed in I daydream about the Little House.
My house is For Sale ... I have found a house to buy.
No one is looking in this weather so I sit and try to practice being patient.
I have never been a patient person. I don't think it is going to happen now ..

So I go online and look at decorating blogs.
Magazines online ..
Travel magazines are good, you can look at the way they do things in France or Belgium or Argentina and get ideas for your home .. colors..

I like white / cream colored walls. You don't get tired of the color , it goes with everything and it keeps things Light.
I have plenty of color in fabrics , rugs and things for the walls, my drapes are natural colored linen.

For the first time I can be as foofy and feminine as I want to be.
I am leaning towards the English/French Country Cottage look.

from An Urban Cottage

Any suggestions ?
Tell me what your favorite design is .. your favorite magazine ? your favorite "look".
The little house I want has 2 rooms under the eaves ... the imagination runs wild

crush cul de sac

I will have a bedroom that will belong only to me .. no sharing .. more feminine decor I think

Upstairs, under the eaves, a room to read and nap and daydream

An all white bedroom is so soothing ..

Upstairs, under the eaves ...

Sunday, February 8, 2015

AnimalKind

AnimalKind

This is where I got Minette.
Now and then I look through the cats and kittens for adoption and see if there is one that pops out, telling me that this is a good brother/sister for Minette.

Hopefully, we will be moving to a new house within a few months and while I love the idea of a dog to walk .. I also like the idea of Minette having a sister or brother and company when I am not home.

While I still play with the idea of a dog, to walk and bark if someone comes around .. I know a cat would suit us fine. Maybe I can find a guard cat .. yeah ..

So even though I have made no decision on this, I like to look at who is up for adoption.

So here ... you can look too. Just click on the name and look at the babies and the cats waiting for a loving home.
All a cat wants is a warm dry place to nap and some food and a loving touch.
And like humans, they get lonesome .. no one, cat or human should be all alone. It is too sad.

So if you are in the area .. go there. If not, you can still enjoy looking.

Her name is Gigi !! beautiful girl.

a big sweet lovebug Zeus

Serena Not only is she the long haired version of Minette, but she was found nursing a litter of kittens.. in this frigid snowy place. The kittens are all fine.

This is an example of why people should remember when they die, be sure to know who is going to take your pet in. This is Bootsie .. her owner passed away and now she is not only grieving but has no home.
You know ... I will probably add to my tiny family here ... sooner than later.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

I Wish I Were There Right Now

It is dark and snowy and bitter cold outside. Much more snow is forecast.
Every one is tucking themselves in and preparing for a few days stuck inside .. most will be with loved ones .. I will be with the kitten.
At times like this , I especially miss Buenos Aires.
This is what it looks like there , now , at this time of year ..
Makes you wish you were there too, doesn't it ?

Free Mali

Mali is 40 years old. That is how long she has lived in that concrete enclosure. 40 years .

Boon Lotts Animal Sanctuary

The Animal Sanctuary will take her in and love her and tend to her and she can live out what is left of her life in what will be a Heavenly place for her, food, people, animals, freedom, love and care.

The Animal Sanctuary has even offered money for her to take her and let her live a good life .. but the Filipino Officials always say no.
Her legs and feet are bad from walking and standing for years on that hard concrete. She might not live that long, from the lack of care and horrible life she has.

These people should be shamed .
They should be shamed and only when they let her go to the Sanctuary should they be spoken to or have any tourists or be a friend of the US or any country that would never condone something like this.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Cats and Dogs and Birds .. Oh My

I woke up yesterday and wandered into the kitchen for my coffee ... noticing as I walked past all the big windows that we had a sort of blizzard.
No wonder I slept so well, it is like being wrapped in cotton, a cocoon of silence. No cars, no birds, no nothing ... silence.
Makes you pop your ears and be sure you still have your hearing.

I wandered into the kitchen with the fussy kitten .. feed me feed me I'm hungry why aren't you feeding me !!!!
As I poured my coffee ( I send thanks to the unknown person who invented the automatic coffee pot that brews and has it ready for you when you stagger into the kitchen half unconscious and in severe need of caffeine )

The kitten wraps herself around my ankles, goes to her dish, back to the ankles, it is this whole kitten drama every morning .. like I ever forgot to feed her ??
God forbid, I would forget to feed me before I would forget her.
Plus, she would never let me forget ... maamamamamamama feeeed meeee.

So she has her little head buried in the bowl, I stand at the windows and sip my coffee, waiting for my brain to wake up and I stare at the snow. Several feet of it on the ground. Weighing down shrubs, tree limbs , fresh deer tracks each morning, empty bird feeders .. poor things, I can't get out there to fill them and the deer would eat them before the birds.
My best idea this week , much to the delight of Minette was putting popcorn, crackers and toast , all crushed up , out on the dining room porch .. Blue Jays as big as the kitten squabble over the crumbs, little sparrows sit in the shrubs, patiently waiting .. now and then a flash of red .. a huge cardinal waits his turn ..
No sign of the chipmunks since it got really cold. I put a lot ( a L O T ) of pistachios out by their home and they disappeared so I am encouraged that they are all snug in their little homes, fat and warm and making crafts things out of empty cashew shells.

When I am stuck inside for too long, I think of what a good idea it was to get a kitten and not a dog.
But then ... I want a dog.
I have good reasons, if I need to give them to someone who asks, what do you want a dog for ?
Watch Dog. That explains itself.
A companion when I go for walks.
Walking ... I can't sit around and increase my dress size when I am walking a dog every day.
Company .. Minette is great, she is my tiny baby and snuggles and makes me laugh and I know she thinks I am Mama.
But a dog is different.. you can still be mom and you can still have company but they are more needy than cats .. they want company too.

When I sell the house and hopefully move into the Little House .. a dog will join us eventually.
We will decide later what kind .. it varies from day to day .. who I talk to ..

I just looked at the weather for my area .. on line ... how did we live without computers ?
I have to ask Minette.

Be sure to pay attention to the temps tonight ... deargodsendmetoArgentina !

OVERNIGHT