Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 51

R.I.P. Joshua

Joshua has crossed the rainbow bridge to be with the rest of the "J" gang.

I posted about this on Facebook and Twitter the same day it happened, but I've waited to post this until now, because I needed time to write it properly, and wanted to grab the last photo we took of him off the camera to go in it. Anyway...

Though I've gotten out of the habit of mentioning it on here, so those who don't know me wouldn't know it, Kelly and I consider ourselves to be celebrating the Winter Solstice rather than Christmas, and when we celebrate the holidays has varied over the years. I'll talk more about this in another post, but for now you just need to know that this year we decided to only celebrate over the weekend of the Winter Solstice, and ended up glad we chose to celebrate that way, since it meant our degu buddy, Joshua, got to celebrate with us one last time.

This is the last ever photo we took of him. It was taken on Saturday December 21st, right after we gave him his new wooden and grass nibble toys that were his gift. I also gave him some of the treats from his stocking, though we didn't get a photo of him with those. Anyway, here's the photo:


For those who don't know, Joshua was the last of a group of four degus we had. We lost his brothers, Jasper, Jenks, and Jacob, in that order three years ago. Now Joshua - who didn't take the loss of his brothers well at first, so actually had to learn to trust us again - was almost seven, and had been in the cage on his own for a little over three years.

I admit, he hadn’t been doing too great for a while physically, but, like I said, he was almost seven, and seemed to be perfectly content, so we weren't concerned. I mean, he was playing - even running on his wheel for ages at a time - eating and drinking normally, and seeming happy, so why would we be? Especially since, though degus can - in rare cases, admittedly - make it to about ten years old, on average they only live about five to seven years, so by degu standards he was an old man. Lots of old people and animals don't get about as well as they did when they were younger. That's nothing to be concerned about, especially when there are no other signs anything might be wrong.

But he took a turn for the worse on Monday when his back legs simply stopped working.

His climbing and jumping hadn't been too good lately, but we'd put it down to age, and he was getting about OK... Even running on his wheel a lot, like I said. So we hadn't been too worried, until he stopped being so active on December 22nd. Even then though, we just figured his age was catching up with him, and checked him regularly. He was eating, drinking, scampering about in his cage some, and even making the odd attempt to run on his wheel though, so we just decided to keep a close eye on him, and only step in if something changed.

On the afternoon of December 23rd, we left him watching Harry Potter movies in his cage next to Mollie's while eating nibbles, and went to Oscars for our holiday meal. When we came home, he wasn't moving.

We thought at first he'd slipped away while we were gone, but he was still breathing. He just didn't seem able to move. He didn't even object to being picked up, which was odd in itself, since he'd never fully accepted being handled after losing his trust in us when we lost his brothers, even though he got to the stage where he'd accept food from us and petting just fine. Anyway, I tried holding him wrapped in a towel in my arms, in case it was just that he'd gotten cold, and warming him up would help, even though he should have been warm enough based on the indoor temperature. We turned the heat up a little too, in case that would help. It didn't. So we spoke to the vet. Long story short, Kelly ended up taking him in to the vet that evening, and that's when we discovered his back legs had simply given out. He wasn't moving for the simple reason that he couldn't move.

There was nothing the vet could do for him, nothing we could do for him, and no reason to leave him suffering in that state any longer than necessary. It had likely already been an awful few hours for him as it was. So we sent him to join his brothers, my Kero, and the other furbabies we've had to say, "Goodbye," to over the years, across the rainbow bridge.

Rest in peace, Buddy. We miss you already.

Thank you to everyone who left us nice comments on my social media posts about Joshua. Also, thanks to Bertie, and the rest of the gang over at George's Guinea Pig World, for taking the time to put up a sweet little post about Joshua on Thursday after I told their human about Joshua crossing the rainbow bridge.

R.I.P. Joshua
March 9th 2013 – December 23rd 2019

Friends Of #FurkidFriday: Lucy And Twiggy

Hi everyone. This is Lilie the Westie.

I hope you had a very yappy Christmas. I know I did. But I'll tell you about that another day, because I've got a couple of new friends for you to meet today. So, let's meet the newest friends of Furkid Friday, shall we?

Hello, new friends, what are your names? If you have unusual names, or there's an interesting story behind them, I'd love to hear about what your names mean, or the story behind them, so please share if applicable.

My name is Lucy. I was picked up in San Antonio by Austin Boxer Rescue wandering the streets. My previous owners thought I should find a new home. The rescue group named me Lucy because I was turned loose. My new parents kept the name because they thought it was cute. My sister's name is Twiggy. She is also a rescue and was the runt of the litter. Our mom thought the name twiggy fit her when she was a puppy. Now, of course, there is nothing "Twiggy" about her. The name stays, though.

I love your names. Lucy is pretty, and Twiggy is unusual. So, Lucy, what species and breed are you and Twiggy?

I am a boxer, and Twiggy is a French Bulldog. The last time we looked we are both female canines.

Great. Thanks for clarifying that. By the way, for those who aren't familiar with those breeds, describe your appearance. I've got a photo here, but please describe yourself, Lucy, and tell us what Twiggy looks like too, for the benefit of those who can't see the photo for whatever reason.

Hold on, let me get a mirror. Okay, here we go. I am beautiful and mostly white with a brown spot over my right eye and on my back. I'm not big for a boxer, but am about the right size to fit on a sofa with my mom and sister. My sister is low to the road and looks a little like a potato. We call her "Little Potato" sometimes. She is white with beige markings.

Nice looking dogs. So, what sort of place do you guys live in? Who do you share it with?

We live in a community outside Austin, Texas. This is a neighborhood kind of community with the added attraction of wild deer roaming everywhere. My sister loves to bark at the deer. I think mainly because it drives mom and dad crazy. We have a beautiful and large backyard which Twiggy and I both enjoy. Our house is very modern, and we share it with our parents and about one hundred toys.

Sounds like a great place to live. Oh, and barking is fun sometimes... Just saying. Speaking of fun things to do, what are your favourite things to do?

My favorite thing to do is nap. Yes, I have an Olympic gold medal in the nap event. We are very fortunate to have two couches so I can nap to my heart's content. I do like to chase my sister, but napping is first with me. My sister loves to play tug-o-war. She puts that bulldog grip onto a toy, and it is tough to get her loose. She also enjoys sneaking up on me when I'm napping. She has a habit of jumping on me and then running away.

Well, thanks for taking time out of your busy nap schedule to chat with me. My Cavapoo brother, Logan, jumps on me too... He thinks it's fun, but it's not. Napping and playing tuggy are fun things to do though. Although, I'm more of a ball fan than a tuggy fan myself. How about you guys? Do you have favourite toys? If yes, what are they?

I do have a favorite toy. It is a Gotcha Cake that I got on my last gotcha day. It plays happy birthday endlessly and is so much fun to fetch. Oh, gotcha day is when you are taken by your new parents to your forever home. We celebrate that since no one knows when I was born. Twiggy's favorite toy is one we call "Ears." It is this dumb looking thing that dad throws, and Twiggy runs after. It used to have two ears, but Twiggy has since taken them both off. I guess it could be called "Earless."

Those sound like great toys! Also, thanks for explaining about gotcha days for anyone who might not know what one is. Sticking on the subject of favourite things, what are your favourite foods?

My favorite food is banana. My mom gives me a piece whenever she has one. I love the taste. I never get a lot, but when I get it, I'm in heaven. My sister loves yogurt. She gets some in the morning when dad has his. Yes, I get some too, but I'm not as crazy about it as she.

I understand that. There are things my brother's crazy about that I'm not so fussed on too. Sounds like your humans are good about making sure you get some anyhow though. Hey, speaking of your Mom and Dad, what's the one thing they do that you love most?

The one thing has to be taking me for a walk. There we are in the fresh air seeing and smelling all the sights. Twiggy is barking at the deer, and we are having a glorious time. We are always on a leash, so I know we are safe, and it is the time of the day where all is right with the world.

Oh, yes... That sounds perfect! I can see why that would be your favourite thing. Bet they do things you're not so keen on though, so tell me, what's the one thing your humans do that you hate most?

Hands down, it has to be my human's obsession with being clean. I hate a bath. Even though the water is warm and I do look terrific after I can't stand it. Thinking about it now makes me shake. Twiggy is the same. Mom gets her into the shower, and then it hits her like a ton of bricks. "Oh no, it is bath time." I don't know what goes through Twiggy's head that she doesn't see it coming. Heck, I run for cover. I can tell by the way my mom says Lucy that it's bath time.

You sound really smart. Personally I don't think baths are so bad... Or wouldn't if they didn't insist on using the stinky "shampoo" stuff... But I'm often being told I'm unusual in that. Besides, I can see why you'd hate it. At least you get to admire how great you look afterwards. That's something. Anyway, I hear Your Dad is a writer. Has he written anything about you? If yes, can you tell us about it? If no, do you think he will in the future?

Once a week, my dad runs a post titled A Little Personal on WordPress. He writes stories about us by taking photos and then putting captions on them. He has done this for about three years, so there are tons of stories. Usually, he captures a slice of our daily life and whatever is going on. I have to say he does a pretty good job.

Oh, that's great! Definitely worth checking out! I have to ask though, what do you guys do while your human writes?

Twiggy and I lay under his desk, mostly. In the morning, he sits on the couch with us, and we snuggle up. Twiggy likes to sit on his lap, so he generally does e-mails with a dog on his lap. I can see that he struggles at times, but he never kicks us off. We are usually with him whenever he is writing.

That's great... Especially the part where he never kicks you off, even if he's struggling a bit. Anyway, you probably want to get back to your busy napping schedule, so we should wrap this up, I think. Before we do though, is there anything else you'd like people to know about you?

Well, I would say people should know that as a rescue, I am mighty grateful for my forever home. I want to say that people can help with the overpopulation of dogs by getting a pet from the local shelter rather than buying from pet stores. When people take a rescue dog, they are freeing up space for another rescue. So not only does that dog get a forever home, but the possibility exists for another to do the same. I sort of like the slogan, "Don't buy, adopt."

That's a great slogan. Logan and I aren't rescue dogs, but we do agree adopting a pet is a great thing to do, are glad you and Twiggy got forever homes where you can be happy and loved, and hope plenty more dogs find their forever homes too. Thanks for coming to visit today, and for sharing that message.

***~~~***

Author Bio

John began his writing as a full-time occupation after an extensive business career. His specialty is thriller fiction novels, but John also writes poetry and short stories. His first book, My GRL, introduces the exciting adventures of the book's central character, John J. Cannon. The second Cannon novel, His Revenge, continues the adventure, while the final book in the trilogy, Our Justice, launched in September 2016. The fourth, Circumstances of Childhood a family life story published October 1st, 2017. The fifth book, The Contract is written with Gwen Plano and made available in June of 2018. All books are on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. The paperback versions are available in the Indie Lector store
John lives in Lakeway Texas with his wife and their spoiled rescue pets.

Blog, Fiction Favourites: http://johnwhowell.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.howell.98229241
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/HowellWave
Authors db: http://www.authorsdb.com/authors-directory/6604-john-w-howell
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-w-howell/48/b59/462/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7751796.John_W_Howell
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/johnwhowell

Blurb for Circumstances of Childhood:

When a former pro football star and broadcaster, now a Wall Street maven is accused of insider trading, will he be able to prove his innocence and expose those who are guilty?
Greg and his boyhood pal dreamed of big success in professional football and then later in business. Greg was the only one to live the dream. Now the founder of an investment fund Greg is faced with a routine audit finding by the SEC. The audit points to irregularities and all the tracks lead to Greg. The justice department hits him with an indictment of 23 counts of fraud, money laundering, and insider trading. His firm goes bust, and Greg is on his own.
His best friend knows he is innocent but has been ordered under penalty of eternal damnation not to help.
If you enjoy stories of riches to rags, redemption, brotherly love, and a little of the paranormal, Circumstance of Childhood will keep you riveted.

***~~~***

I hope you enjoyed getting to meet Lucy, and her sister, Twiggy. Oh, and hearing about their humans too. It would be really great if you could show them how much you enjoyed meeting them, either by sharing this post around, leaving them a comment, or doing both those things. I know they'd love it if you did, and it would make me very happy too.

By the way, we're always looking for new friends, since we love friends! So, if you're a bird, cat, chinchilla, degu, dog, gerbil, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, rat, or other non-human animal, you share your home with a human who calls themselves a writer - yes, blogging counts - and you'd like to be featured as a friend of Furkid Friday, we'd love to hear from you. To find out how to get in touch and become a friend of Furkid Friday, check out the "Friends Of Furkid Friday" page on this blog. You can also use that page to meet friends we've featured in the past.

Lots of licks,
Lilie

#Christmas Themed #AmReading + #AmWatching + #AmListening - #Reviews For December 26th 2019 (Plus The "My Year In Books" Tag)

So many books, so little time.
~Frank Zappa

Welcome to this week's weekly media shares and reviews post!

Happy Boxing Day, and I hope you had a very merry Christmas, or whatever else you celebrate.

*Disclaimer: no matter what's being reviewed, all opinions in this post are entirely my own, and I reserve the right to have them, regardless of who may or may not share them. Feel free to express your own in the comments, but please respect my right - and the rights of other commenters - to have opinions that might differ from yours, and to express those opinions too.

Also, please remember that I read/watch/listen to things in a variety of genres, and for all ages, so you should make sure you check that the book/movie/show/song is suitable for the intended audience before reading/watching/listening to it, especially if children are involved. I take no responsibility for anything which may happen as a result of failing to do so.

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Unless otherwise stated, all music videos are via YouTube.

OK, so... Let's see what I've been reading, watching, and listening to, shall we? Other than my yearly reading of "The Bear Father Christmas Forgot" and viewing of "Santa Clause: The Movie" of course. *wink*

So... This week I read...

The Christmas Hypothesis by Anna Blix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a sweet and touching story, which makes for an enjoyable holiday read.

Oh Baubles by Harmony Kent
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a beautifully written and enchanting tale, which is perfect for those Winter evenings when you want to curl up with a sweet romance story. If you're a fan of those feel good holiday romances, you should give this one a read.

the home for christmas anthology by Christina Rossetti
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A delightful collection of Wintery poems.

Jake & The Gingerbread Wars by E.G. Foley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I haven't read the others in the series, but figured it didn't matter, since this one is advertized as being suitable as a stand-alone title. Well, either that's not true, and reading this book (which is book 3.5 in the series officially) out of order means I missed out on understanding some things about the world and characters, or the plot and characters need some work. Whichever is the case, though I liked it enough to give it three stars, I most certainly didn't love it. Do I want to read the other books in the series to find out what I might have missed before, and what comes after? Yes. But there are plenty of books I'm much more eager to read first.

As for what I've been watching this week...

I watched a lot of things over the past week. I watched all of "The Big Bang Theory" season 7 and 8 (6 DVDs). I also watched more episodes of "Rugrats" and "A Christmas Carol" (the 1951 version) on Amazon Prime. Plus, I watched some of the Harry Potter movies on Sky Cinema Harry Potter (yes, that's a real thing... It is at the moment anyhow) and a couple of new to me Christmas movies on Sky Cinema Christmas, so here are the reviews for those new to me movies:

12 Men of Christmas (2009 TV movie):
This was one of those predictable but sweet movies some of us love to watch this time of year (and other times of year in some cases). If you're a fan of the Hallmark type movies, you'll likely enjoy this one. Though it wasn't the best I've seen. Still good though, if you like that kind of thing. I give this movie four out of five stars.

The Grinch (2018 movie):
This was a pretty good movie. Not as fun and entertaining as the version with Jim Carrey from 2000, and yet still enjoyable. There seemed to be even more focus on the true meaning of Christmas than I've seen in any other version of this story, which was nice. Even if Jim Carrey was a better Grinch in my opinion, and the version of the movie with him in it was more entertaining. Anyway, I give this movie four out of five stars.

Last, but not least, this week I've been listening to...

Christmas music again! Yeah, big surprise, I don't think. Haha! Anyway, I'm making the most of this final opportunity to share a Christmasy tune before December is over with a hope that you'll hold on to the feelings of Christmas time all year around. Keep Christmas throughout the year, as Scrooge learned to do.


***~~~***

So, officially this post should be ended now. However, I found this "My 2019 in Books" tag here on Jemima Pett's blog. As she says in her post, she got it from somewhere else, but it's her who brought it to my attention. Anyway, I thought I'd do it, which I'm sure you're not surprised to hear, and - since I'm quickly running out of posting days in 2019 - decided I could just add it to this week's review post. It was really either that or leave posting it until January. So... *shrugs*

Anyway, the idea is that you complete the sentences with titles of books you’ve read in the year. You can copy the prompts and just use those, like I have, or even add some of your own. So, why not play along? You know you want to!

Here's my 2019 in Books:

I would describe this year as being: A Gypsy Song
I’m tipping that the next big thing in Reality TV shows will be: A Book of Nonsense
I could have cried when: Whispers Of The Past
I would love to have some respite from: Rivalry
The most unexpected thing that happened this year involved: Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction
My non-bookish friends would say I: Qualify
My motto for 2020 will be: Once Upon a Unicorn
I am most looking forward to: Breakfast By The Sea
A recurring dream I’ve had this year features: Wolves
If you looked under my couch you would see: Will O' the Wisp
If I could no longer blog, I would probably pursue a career in: The Gemini Connection
Something most people don’t know about me is: The Calling

To find out who the authors of the books I used for this challenge are, or to see a list of all the books I've so far read in 2019, check out my year in books on Goodreads. Or you could wait until next week to check that out, so there's time for whatever I read between now and Tuesday to be included in it.

#WriterWednesday - #Christmas Day 2019 Edition + The #Smashwords End Of Year #eBook #Sale

Merry Christmas! I hope that you're simply having a wonderful Christmas time.






At least, I hope you were before you started reading this, because I'm going to assume your holiday celebrations are over - or at least that you're between holiday activities, and have some free time - or you wouldn't be reading this. Right?

So, with that in mind, on to those writerly links I collected for you before (mostly) stepping away from the computer for the holidays, starting with this reminder of the 85K90 Challenge, which is something those of you wishing challenges like NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) would happen in the quieter months of the year might want to check out, since the aim of it is to get your novel written in the first quarter of the year (January through March). It also gives you 90 days to get your book written, rather than the 30 days NaNoWriMo gives you, meaning you have a lower word count to aim for each day than you would if you were doing NaNoWriMo. It even has months set aside for editing and publishing, so can technically keep you on track all year, and maybe even have you published in time for next Christmas, especially if you plan to self-publish. Check out the link I just posted for full details on how the challenge works.

There's also STORYSTORM in January, NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month) in March, NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) in April, Camp NaNoWriMo in both April and July, and NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) itself in November, if you need inspiration for other writing related challenges to sign up for next year. I dare say there are others I've forgotten or don't know about too. I've mentioned all of the ones listed in this paragraph on my blog before, but if you don't know what any of them are and want to check them out, a quick search will easily provide you with details, so either find my posts about them, or just type the challenge/event name in to your favourite search tool.

Ah, but should you plan your whole year? Well, that's up to you. But it might be an idea to have some kind of plan, especially if you want to do some of the challenges I mentioned above, or have your own writing goals you'd like to achieve. So, if you're thinking it might be a good idea to plan your whole year, take a look at the post I just linked to for a suggestion on how you might approach doing that.

Just remember, when you're planning your year, to schedule in some rest time, and don't over do it. Is writing supposed to be hard? Yes. But don't make it so hard you get burned out. Look after yourself while chasing your writing dreams. Please. Don't forget about the emotional side of the writing life. Look after your health; both physical and mental.

I mean, it's true that there is no time for 'someday'. But you do need to take care of yourself while doing the things. Plus, you need to allow yourself time to be bored, because it's good for a writer to be bored.

Anyway, here's an excellent post that answers the question, "Are people who write only as a hobby 'real' writers?" Short answer: yes. As long as you write on at least a semi-regular basis, and want to call yourself one, you're a writer.

Remember: while there are plenty of extremely valid reasons to not be writing regularly - or as often as you'd like to be writing, or whatever your personal situation is - make sure they really are valid reasons you're using, and if you are making excuses for not reaching your writing goals, rather than using valid reasons, leave your excuses at the door.

OK, so you're writing. Since that's the case, you might want to check out these tips to writing semi-coherent dialogue, and this advice on what to avoid with internal monologue.

Next, here's a great post that explains how objects tell your story.

Finally, if you got a new eReader for Christmas - or even if you didn't, but just want to get some new books at great prices - you may be interested to hear that the Smashwords end of year sale is now on, and you can go here to check out all the books on sale. Of course, I've enrolled my own books, which you can find via my Smashwords profile. Every one of my books is enrolled at 50% off, with coupon code SEY50 (which should be automatically applied when you add any of my books to your cart on Smashwords, but I'm giving you the code anyhow, just in case). So, if you want to get my books for half their usual price, you can do so exclusively on Smashwords through January 1st. Since my books are made available in all formats Smashwords offers, and they offer multiple eBook formats, this means there will be a format that works for you, regardless of whether you read eBooks via a Kindle, an iPad, your computer, or whatever. So, what are you waiting for? Grab some eBook bargains while you can!

It's #ChristmasEve - Have Yourself A Merry Little #Christmas

It's Christmas Eve. Most people are likely not online today, and a large number of those who are online today will likely not have much online time available. Of course, I know there are those who neither of those things applies to; there are people not celebrating the holidays for one reason or another, or celebrating them at a different time for whatever reason. There are also people who will find every opportunity to get online between their holiday activities - or during them - regardless, because that's just how things are these days.

This is just a long-winded way of saying that, since it is Christmas Eve, I thought I'd take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas from me, Kelly, and the furkids. So, have yourself a merry little Christmas.

#MondayMotivation, #Inspiration, And #Wisdom - #Quotes For December 23rd 2019

Aim for the mountaintop, but remember to savor the climb.
~Robin Sharma

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you only walk on sunny days you'll never reach your destination.
~Paulo Coelho

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
~Lao Tzu

We all grow tired eventually; it happens to everyone. Even the sun, at the close of the year, is no longer a morning person.
~Joyce Rachelle

No two trees - no two leaves - are ever exactly alike. No plant - no flower - ever perfectly symmetrical. Repetition, yet with a slight difference. Variety, yet with conformity. This is how we expect it. This is how we love it. This is beauty.
~C.R. Milne

I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, 'Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.'
~Lewis Carroll

#FurkidFriday: Lilie The #Westie And Logan The #Cavapoo Write To #SantaPaws - The #Dogs' 2019 #Christmas Letters + #Photos

Hi everyone. This is Lilie the Westie.

Mummy says it's almost Santa Paws time. Humans are better about knowing when it's time for things like that than dogs are, so we're taking her word for it, and hoping he really is coming soon. I'm also hoping I have better luck seeing him this year... I love visitors, and don't understand why I don't see him when he visits. Maybe my little brother, Logan, can help me watch for him this year? Maybe we'll have better luck with two of us keeping watch? I know Logan will hear him if he makes any noise at all. Those ears of his don't miss a thing.

Anyway, we wrote letters to Santa Paws, so I thought I'd share them with you. Mine already got shared as part of "Ani's Advent" near the start of last week, but I'm sharing it here too, in case you missed seeing it when my friend, Ani, posted it on hers and her human's blog here
. I hope you enjoy reading our letters. I'll share mine first, since I'm older. Plus, Santa Paws might need to take a look at mine before he reads Logan's.

Before I share our letters though, here are some photos they took of us. Logan wore a hat and some antlers to please Mummy - despite my attempts at removing the stupid things from his head - but I wasn't having a repeat of that hat business from Halloween. It was bad enough Logan was willing to let them do that to him. I was happy to model a couple of different Christmasy bandannas though... I like those. Anyway, here are our photos:


Lots of licks,
Lilie

***~~~***

Dear Santa Paws,

I didn't get to see you again last year, though I loved the toys and treats you left for me, so thanks for those. Like I always tell everyone, I really love friends and visitors, so why won't you wake me up to say, "Hello," when you come bring our toys and treats? I'd really love to meet you. I'll do my best happy wiggle dance and everything.

Anyway, I've been a very good girl again. But I don't need to tell you that. Mummy says you know if I've been good or not, so you'll know how good I've been. I mean, sure, I've gotten pretty cranky with my little brother sometimes. But really, Santa Paws, you would if he was jumping on your head, chewing on your ear, and stealing your toys and treats too. Just saying!

So, since I've been such a good little Westie girl, I'm sure you won't mind bringing me some more toys and treats, right? So I want some more balls. Yes, I know I have lots of balls already, but you can never have too many balls. Also, I love those cuddly toys with squeakers in them, so a new one - or two - of those would be great. Oh, and I'd love if you could bring me some treats too, since they're another thing you can never have too much of in my opinion. I especially love rawhide chewies... Just so you know.

You should probably bring some stuff for my little brother, Logan, too. That way maybe he won't steal my stuff all the time. I know he keeps being a bad puppy, but he'll only take my stuff if you don't bring him something of his own. Besides, he does try not to be a bad puppy... Mostly... Even if he's not very good at managing it. But trying does count. Mummy says so.

Lots of licks,
Lilie

***~~~***

Dear Santa Paws,

I'm new to this whole Christmas thing, and don't really understand it. But I've figured out that you'll be coming for a visit soon, because Mummy keeps saying about it. I'm really happy about that, because visitors are the best! Well, actually, food is the best, but visitors are almost as good. Besides, my big sister, Lilie, says you bring us toys and treats if we've been good puppies, which means you're a visitor who'll be bringing food, and that's the most awesome thing ever, because it means food and visitors at the same time! What's not to love?

I really have been a good puppy. Well, mostly. I've tried anyhow. Lilie says you'll think I've been bad. She says you won't bring me stuff, because of how I jump on her and chew her ear and things. But I'm trying hard to remember not to do that, and Mummy says trying counts. I mean, I'm only a puppy! I know I grew lots, so I'm bigger in size than Lilie now, but being big on the outside doesn't make me all big and grown up inside. Plus, like I said, I really am trying hard to remember not to jump and chew on Lilie. Sometimes I even remember for several days in a row. That's good, right? That counts, right? Oh, Santa Paws, please say it does!

You will bring me something when you come visit, won't you, Santa Paws? I don't mind what kinds of toys and treats you bring me. But I hate when I get left out of things. It makes me feel sad, and makes my tail forget to wag. So, please, Santa Paws, bring me something when you visit. A cuddly toy with a squeaker in, some of those little balls that bounce lots so are good for chasing, some rawhide... Anything. Just so I don't have to feel sad and left out, and so I know Mummy's right, and trying does count. Because I do try, Santa Paws. I really do.

Lots of licks,
Logan

#AmReading + #AmWatching + #AmListening - #Reviews For December 19th 2019

A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.
~Neil Gaiman

Welcome to this week's weekly media shares and reviews post!

*Disclaimer: no matter what's being reviewed, all opinions in this post are entirely my own, and I reserve the right to have them, regardless of who may or may not share them. Feel free to express your own in the comments, but please respect my right - and the rights of other commenters - to have opinions that might differ from yours, and to express those opinions too.

Also, please remember that I read/watch/listen to things in a variety of genres, and for all ages, so you should make sure you check that the book/movie/show/song is suitable for the intended audience before reading/watching/listening to it, especially if children are involved. I take no responsibility for anything which may happen as a result of failing to do so.

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Unless otherwise stated, all music videos are via YouTube.

OK, so... Let's see what I've been reading, watching, and listening to, shall we?

This week I read... A lot. I ended up finishing four books. I didn't expect to do so; I expected to not be finishing the last book until this weekend. But... Well, read its review, and you'll understand. Also, for those interested: I've now completed my 2019 reading challenge, since I've read more than 104 books. Anyway...

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It took me a bit to get in to this book, because the way it's written takes away a lot of the plot tension and the thrill of their fight against the zombies. However, it was a pretty good read over all, and once I got in to it I started enjoying hearing the stories of the diffrrent characters, and their experiences during and immediately after the war.

Whispers of the Past by Roberta Eaton Cheadle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As always seems to be the case with anthologies by multiple authors, I enjoyed some of the stories in this collection more than others. All were well-written, with fascinating - and sometimes quite chilling - plots, and interesting characters. It's just that some appealed to me more than others, while a couple of the stories were difficult for me to get in to and enjoy due to my personal tastes in reading materials. So, I've given this book four out of five stars, which is lower than a couple of the stories deserve, but higher than I would have rated others had I read them on their own.
*NOTE: I was given a free review copy of this book by the author of one of the stories. This fact has in no way influenced either my opinion of the stories - or the collection as a whole - nor the contents of this review.

Preparing For My First Cockatiel: A Beginner's Guide to Starting Your Life with the World’s Most Popular Pet Cockatoo by Laurel A. Rockefeller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a well-written, excellent and informative read. It's very obvious the author has done her research well, and cares a lot about birds. Not only that, but it's also presented in such a way as to make it easy to follow, regardless of how old you might be; if you're old enough to be responsible for the care of a pet like a Cockatiel, you're old enough to be able to read and understand this book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone thinking of getting a Cockatiel, or those who - like me - are simply interested in what goes in to the proper care of a pet Cockatiel.
I would also like to add that I listened to the audio version of this book, and think the narrator was an excellent choice, since he has a wonderful and clear voice, which is both easy to understand and pleasant to listen to.
*NOTE: I was given a free copy of this book by the author. This fact has in no way influenced either my opinion of the book - or its narrator - nor the contents of this review; all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Allegiance by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
You know those books that have you staying up past the time you know you really should be sleeping, just so you can read a little more? Yeah, this was one of those for me. It's an awesome addition to the series, and an amazing read in its own right. The action, the feels, the relatable characters even in situations you can't imagine ending up in yourself and even so find yourself hoping against hope you never will while reading about them... It has all those things, and more! Seriously, if you're a fan of apocolyptic fiction that's set way after the initial event, and can handle gory details in your books, you should be reading this series, and if you're not, I seriously recommend you fix that as soon as possible. Also, the next book is coming soon, right? *looks hopeful*

As for what I've been watching this week...

I watched two DVDS during the past week, both of which were from "The Big Bang Theory" (I've now finished all of the first six seasons). I also watched a couple more episodes of "Rugrats" on Amazon Prime. Plus, I watched a new to me Christmas movie on Sky Cinema Christmas, so the review for that is below.

The Family Stone (2005 movie):
To be honest, I didn't think much of this movie. It felt like everyone was just going out of their way to be mean to each other through most of it, and then all of a sudden, in the last five minutes, things come together. I don't mind movies where things aren't working out, but in the end they do, or even the other way around. But I didn't feel like this one even showed the progression of things changing. I need to see that, and don't feel like I did. Did I miss something? If I did, it was something quick, and left until pretty close to the end to happen, so if I missed something, it was too little too late to save this movie in my eyes. So, I'm sorry, but I can't give this one a high rating, because I just didn't enjoy it at all. So, with that in mind, I give this movie two out of five stars.

Last, but not least, this week I've been listening to...

More Christmas music! One of my favourite Christmas songs is "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" - regardless of who's singing it. So, as my music share for this week, I'm going to share a wonderful version of it for your listening pleasure.

#WriterWednesday - December 18th 2019

I was honoured to be featured by fellow author, Sally Cronin, again during the past week. Sally featured my book, "Witchlet" (the first of my Magical Chapters trilogy) in this post on the weekend. Check out the post to see who else she featured that day. The post is part of her Sally's Cafe And Bookstore Christmas book fair series of posts, which you can check out by clicking on the link I just posted. After all, there's still time to grab some last minut holiday gifts, and there are plenty of fantastic authors to choose from, in a wide variety of genres, so you might just find the perfect book for someone on your Christmas list. Or maybe even yourself. After all, books make great gifts, so you should definitely consider them, especially if you have avid readers on your list. I have to admit, I especially hope you consider my books.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about my books this week, since I've not really done much in the way of writing this week. It's not writer's block or anything like that. I don't suffer from writers' block. I suffer from procrastination and time management issues, but not writers' block. At least, I don't suffer from it in the traditional sense, though I suppose since 'writers' block' is more than just staring at a blank page, my procrastination and time management issues might be considered a form of writers' block. Either way, if you're suffering from writers' block of any kind, here's a post about writers' block you might find useful.

This suggestion of using idea generation where some of the work is done for you is something else you might find useful, and is an idea worth considering for sure.

Or, if it's just that you're in the middle of your story, and feeling a bit stuck, try these things to do when you're stuck in the middle of your novel, which can work for writing projects of any length.

Whatever you do, I'm sure your own voice will shine through, as it always does. Speaking of which, here's a great post on finding your author voice, in case the reason you're stuck is because you're worried about doing that.

You can only tell a story in your own voice. You find what isn't you, and you get closer and closer to what is.
~Anne Lamott

Next, here are some things to keep in mind while writing, this is why you can't wait until you're 'feeling inspired' to write, and why you sometimes just need to sit down and write, no matter what. After all, this might be what you're actually looking for when you 'hunt' for inspiration.

As long as you can start, you are all right. The juice will come.
~Ernest Hemingway

Of course, that's not always the answer, and it might just be possible that what you need is a break. In fact, here are some midweek reminders for writers who haven't taken a break in a while, which you may want to take note of, and which can apply to non-writers too. Reminders like this are especially important during the holiday season, where Christmas and the like usually already cause stress. Take a break. Enjoy your holiday celebrations. Then remember to factor in regular breaks when you're figuring out any writing goals you might be planning for 2020. Yeah. I know. I need to remember that too. With that in mind, this is why some writers are afraid to take breaks, but we should take regular breaks anyway.

Or maybe you just need to take a nap. After all, better sleep can boost your writing, so if you're like me and can't stick to a proper sleeping routine - despite several attempts to do so - naps might be a good idea for you, just so you can get enough sleep in. A regular sleeping schedule is best, if you can do it. But getting enough sleep is what matters most, regardless of how you get it. After all, it's better to have enough sleep with the use of naps, than not get enough sleep because you tried to avoid having a nap and still can't sleep (something that's happened to me so often I just take naps when I need to now, unless there's a very good reason why I can't go for a nap). Look after yourself... Get some sleep. Naps aren't just for toddlers.

On a similar note, whether you're a writer or not, don't forget to cultivate healthy writing habits, because there actually are risks of injury when writing, or doing other things that mean you spend a lot of time on the computer, such as scrolling through blogs or social media feeds, playing games on the computer, etc. So be careful. Take breaks, take procautions, and don't push yourself too hard for any reason, especially not to please others.

Also, sometimes it's OK to escape from communications slavery. In fact, it's highly recommended that you do so at least some of the time. I know people expect us to always be available these days. But it's OK not to be, especially if it makes it difficult for you to get your writing done because you're too busy being available when the world expects you to be.

I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations. They generally produce their worst work when they do that.
~David Bowie

Anyway, here's an interesting post that talks about hero motivation vs villain motivation, which is worth a read.

Regardless of the motivation of your characters, here's a simple breakdown of 7 point plotting, which might help you if you think there's something missing in your story.

Writing a book is like growing a forest one leaf at a time.
~Victoria Schwab

By the way, you may be interested to know that Smashwords has a new presales feature, which they unveiled earlier this month, which I actually think sounds kind of cool. It allows you to give your fans early access to your books via Smashwords before they officially go on sale. You can even make customized coupon codes that allow you to do so using a lower price too. Read the post I just linked to for full details on the feature. Not convinced? Here are some reasons to run a presale.

Speaking of marketing: here are some top tips for marketing your book for the holiday season. A bit late for this year, perhaps. But something to bear in mind for next year. Or you could tailor the tips for other holidays, like Valentine's Day, Easter, etc, and start planning now for 2020. Or, check out these last-minute holiday book sales strategies, which it's not too late for.

Write from the soul. The market is fickle; the soul is eternal.
~J Carver

No matter what your marketing strategy might be, always remember to keep your dreams big, and your enthusiasm bigger.

Perhaps do some writing betwixt, when the magic of bbeing in the time between times can act as its own form of inspiration, and maybe bring you and your muse closer.

Finally, here are some ways writers can overcome holiday anxiety, in case you need some tips for that.

Random Ramblings - December 17th 2019

Temperatures have been quite low around here lately. Mostly only a few degrees above freezing, with it dropping below freezing several times, especially - though not exclusively - at night. Some days have been wet, others not, though we've had more dry days than wet ones. But all days have been on the chilly side. No snow though, unfortunately. There's still time... Plenty of Winter left. I'd love some to show up though. I need to introduce Logan to it. Plus, I want to play with it myself. Lilie loves it too, so she wouldn't mind if we got some snow. In fact, she'd be delighted, especially since I tend to keep wanting to go outside when it's snowing, and she gets to come with me when I do. I wonder what Logan will think of snow when he gets to see some... I can't wait to find out!

What's your weather been like? Do you have snow? If you do and don't want it, please send it to me.

Anyway, make yourself comfortable. I'm trying to catch up on all the random happenings from our corner of the world up to this point, so this might get long. There's probably going to be some topic hopping too. Just to warn you. I set myself a list of things I wanted to do before the end of December, so that they were done before the holidays - or, more spacifically, so they were done before the end of the year - and this post to catch you up on all the random happenings around here is part of that. We may not lead exciting lives by some people's standards, but I had some things I wanted to share, so they're all gathered together in this post. Anyway, let's get on with it. So...

Logan's a good sport.



In the picture above, I'm cuddling Logan while he wears my dressing gown (robe) with his paws through the sleeves and everything... The sleeves obviously had to be pushed up a lot for his paws to be visible, and you can tell by the robe's many folds that it's WAY too big for him. But he's wearing it as best as a dog of his size could wear a robe of that size.

I put the robe around him, just messing about, and he moved his paw as if to put it through the sleeve. He's such a good sport about playing any game, even dress-up, that I couldn't resist seeing if he'd let me put it on him properly. As you can see from the photo, he did let me. He just stood there and let me do it. Then I picked him up and cuddled him, which is when Kelly took the photo.

Of course, he deserved a good treat after that...


The bed he's enjoying his chewie on is one of the new dog beds we got recently. Officially they're Christmas presents for the dogs, but we gave them to them now, since Logan needed a bed he could stretch out on (he only just manages to cram himself in to his basket now) and we thought Lilie would appreciate something more spacious for those times when she decides she doesn't feel like sleeping in our bed all night. Though we call each bed either Logan's or Lilie's bed, and the one in the computer room is officially Logan's one, we don't stop them using each others, as you can see from this next photo, where Lilie is trying Logan's bed out:


They both seem to like the new beds, though Logan was a bit unsure at first, and went to his basket initially, before obviously deciding he liked the idea of the more spacious bed.



They got new bowls as early Christmas presents too, because Logan needed a bigger one, and Lilie was still using her first puppy one so just needed a new one. Both are ceramic bowls. Lilie's is a pink one that says "Diva" both inside and outside, and Logan's is blue inside and brown with the word "Dog" and a little picture of a dog on the outside. Here are photos of them both:


I can easily tell them apart, because Logan's is slightly bigger, and because the writing and picture on the outside of Logan's bowl is tactile, which is cool. I knew his bowl would be slightly bigger, but only realized about the writing and picture on it being tactile when it arrived. Makes things easier for me, since it's me who feeds them, and though they both have the same food, Logan does have a little extra. Well, he's bigger, so he should, right?

But, anyway... They will, of course, have a couple of toys and treats when Santa Paws makes his yearly visit, despite having new beds and bowls. Can't have them missing out on toys and treats just because they needed those things, can we? *wink*

Besides, they don't understand the concept of early Christmas presents, and will think they got left out if they haven't got anything for Christmas day. Especially Lilie, who's got some familiarity with the fact the Christmas stockings mean toys and treats are meant to happen... Even if she's not sure why, or how the whole thing works.

Logan does understand about toast and sweetie ball time though.

"Toast and sweetie ball time," - for those who missed it being mentioned in Logan's post last month - is when Logan and I share some toast before the dogs have their bed time treat balls at night. Lilie's invited to share some too, but usually isn't interested. Logan, however, loves his toast, and will let me know if it's getting late and he hasn't had it. Though he's happy to accept the sweetie ball first, skipping the toast completely is not an option, as we discovered recently.

I was tired, having hardly slept the night before, and been prevented from taking a nap (it was one of those times when every time I started to drift off to sleep, something happened to pull me back awake, and then it got too late for a nap, because I had to get up for dinner). So Kelly told me to just go to bed early.

As much as I wanted to, I objected that I couldn't, because Logan needed his toast, and would be upset if he didn't get it. I didn't want to do his toast too early, or he'd start expecting it too early.

Kelly insisted he'd be fine, and I should go to bed.

I disagreed, but was too tired to do so for long, and ended up giving in.

When I woke several hours later, it was to learn that Kelly had ended up making some toast to share with Logan, because apparently my Logi-Bear wasn't impressed at the lack of toast, and Kelly was left with the choice of sharing some toast with the dog, or waking me so I could do so. Knowing I needed the sleep, he chose the former.

Logan had gone to sleep with me originally, having his treat ball when he did. He then got up around the time I usually do the toast and pestered Kelly - complete with the full on sad puppy dog face - until he gave in and made some toast, after which he happily went back to bed, curled up beside me, and slept peacefully.

Kelly said Logan looked so sad that he just had to give in.

I said, "I told you he'd be upset if he didn't get his toast."

Logan is very food motivated. Can you tell? *wink*

Lilie was apparently offered toast too, but wasn't interested. She's not food motivated at all.

By the way, speaking of Lilie - and sticking on the subject of the dogs for a little longer - Lilie had a vet checkup on November 21st. The vet says she's perfectly healthy. Also, she's maintaining her 9.8 kilo weight, which is a good thing. In theory, she doesn't have to go back now until her shots are due in about six months time, unless she goes with Kelly just for the trip when he's picking up her flea and worming stuff, which she sometimes does.

I'd usually have one of the dogs tell you about all this stuff... I'd have Logan tell you about the missing toast, have one of them tell you about their new beds and bowls, have Lilie tell you about her vet trip herself, and maybe also have her tell you about meeting my Dad for the first time - yeah, she's almost three, and hasn't ever met him before. But I had several pet interviews come in close together, and don't want to make people wait too long for their interviews to go up if I can avoid it, so scheduled three back to back, and I already have things planned for the last three Fridays of this year too, along with tentative plans for the first couple of Fridays in January. So I figured I'd just tell you myself about all these things, including how Lilie's vet appointment went, and what she thought of meeting my Dad.

To be honest, those who know Lilie at all will be able to easily figure out that she was super excited to have a visitor come several days in a row. Logan too. They were both extremely pleased to see someone new, greeted Dad eagerly each morning when he showed up after spending the night in his hotel, watched sadly as he left each evening, and waited eagerly for him for the first couple of mornings after he was gone, expecting him to show up again. They love making new friends, and my Dad was apparently no exception to this rule. I'm not surprised, since I have yet to come across anyone who is with them... Lilie and Logan are both very friendly and social dogs.

Before we stop talking about the dogs - well, so much anyhow - here are some photos from when we took them for a long walk around the park a couple of weeks ago... So that you'll get to see them this year. It was a dry day, though quite chilly. As I said at the start of this post, most days have been quite chilly recently, with some wet and some not. But this day was one of the dry ones, and a quiet day for us too, so we took them for a long walk in the nearby park, to give them some grass sniffing time, and let them feel the grass and mud on their paws for a change.


We don't go to the park with them all that often, prefering to walk them along the seafront most of the time. So, since most of their walks happen along the seafront, going to the park is a treat for them. Plus, if we go around the whole park, like we did on the day the photos were taken, it's a long walk that has even Lilie tired by the end of it, so it's a treat for us too, because they need a good long nap afterwards. *wink*

Kelly also took Lilie for a walk to one of the other local parks. It's further away; it's the one right by where we used to live, where I used to walk Kero. Now that I think about it, I haven't been there since we lost him. Anyway, Kelly and Lilie went there, just the two of them, while I had some one-on-one time with Logan. I took him to the end of the street and back (the furthest I risk taking him on my own) and then did some one-on-one play time and training time with him until Kelly and Lilie got home.

We do that sometimes, so the dogs can have a bit of individual attention, and a break from each other. I mean, they get on great as a rule - apart from the odd bit of, "He stole my toy," or "She's sleeping in the spot I wanted to," squabbling, like you get from human kids - but I'm sure they appreciate having some time apart every so often. Not to mention, the one-on-one focussed attention each of them gets from one of us while it's happening is good for them, and likely very welcome. They seem to enjoy it anyhow.

Kelly took the camera with him and got a couple of photos for me to share. One of the shots even involves Lilie. So here they are:


We have no idea who the people walking their dogs in a couple of the photos are, and they're only in the shots because he was trying to get photos of the park, and they happened to be where he was aiming. But never mind.

Oh, OK, here's a few more phuppy photos, because I can, and because Lilie and Logan are so cute...


Anyway...

We did a big clean up the other day. We do one from time to time, and right before Christmas seems to be a popular time for one of them to happen; a big clean up right before the holidays seems to be a thing we do. I know of a few other people who do it too. Because, you know, there's not already enough to do ready for the holidays without that. *wink*

Thankfully, since I've got a lot more energy this year, I was actually able to be helpful. Last year even doing small tasks like plugging in the hoover for Kelly, or fetching small items, etc, would tire me out quickly, and I'd need a nap, so Kelly ended up doing most of it on his own before. This year I did my fair share, and even managed to play with Lilie and Logan in between tasks, while Kelly was resting. This despite hobbling about on a bad foot.

Why bad foot? Because I somehow managed to take a chunk out of my little toe on my left foot.

Don't ask how, because I'm honestly not too sure how I did it. Seriously, I don't have a clue how it happened. It was before we started the clean up too, so I can't even say it happened somehow during that. I just noticed it was painful, discovered dried blood on it when I prodded at it to figure out why, so called Kelly to take a look. This was a week ago. It's healing, but slowly, and in the meantime my foot hurts, and is awkward to walk on because of how it's bandaged up.

It might have been more healed by now, except I keep stubbing it on things. Isn't that always the way though? You have an injured body part, you're bound to keep hitting it on things as you go about your day... It's one of those unwritten laws of the universe or something. Or, it was unwritten, until we all started mentioning it online. Either way, I keep doing that, which is part of why we have it wrapped up the way we do... It's to protect it as best as possible. Still hurts like mad when I stub it on things though, as I'm sure you don't doubt.

I'm hoping it heals up properly very soon, or it's going to be interesting walking to Oscars for our Christmas dinner on Monday. It's getting there. At least I can now put shoes or slippers on again, so it should be fine. I hope.

Oh, and... On the theme of medical stuff: Kelly had his dentist appointment at the end of November, like he was supposed to. His painful tooth isn't sorted yet though. They're making him wait until today (December 17th) before he actually has anything done to sort it out. So he's had to wait three weeks. This after having had to wait a couple of weeks to be seen in the first place. So, he's been trying to get it sorted for over a month in total.

Yeah, I know. Both of us think it's stupid. Though Kelly thinks part of it is because a lot of people seem to be wanting to get their appointments in before the holidays, so their slots are filling quicker than normal. A theory based on the fact the dentist was packed when he was there, which is unusual for our dentist... We've never known more than about two or three others to be there waiting at any given time, yet Kelly says there were many more than that this time. Apparently there were a couple of dozen people there when he was there. But, whatever the reason, he's not getting anything done about the tooth that's bugging him until today. Good thing he's learned I'm right about how well clove oil works, that's all I can say.

Anyway, there shouldn't be any issues at his appointment today. Kelly's dentist appointments usually go smoothly. They don't have the issues with numbing him and such that they do with me, for example. So, if I say nothing more about it, it means it all went as smoothly as expected. If there do end up being any issues, I'll tell you about them in the new year.

The other thing worth mentioning that's happening this week is my Mam's birthday, which is in two days time (December 19th). So, happy early birthday, Mam! I don't know if she'll see this... Sometimes she reads my posts, sometimes she doesn't... But I'm saying it anyhow. Of course, I'll say it to her over the phone on her actual birthday too.

Oh, and... Speaking of birthdays...

Here, at last, are the photos of my birthday cards. One is from my Nan and Dad, one is from Rita, and the other is from my Grandma.


It only took me a month to get you those photos. That's all. But, hey, at least I got there in the end. *wink*

Also, remember how I told you I got the unicorn cookie cutter set for my birthday? Well, here are some tofu unicorns - or "tofunicorns" as the people from the vegan group I'm a member of on Facebook have decided they should be called - I made with the whole body unicorn shape in the set, because I could...


The set also contained a few other shapes, including a unicorn head you'll see later in this post.

I can't believe how popular those were. Seriously, they got about 400 reactions on facebook, all of them positive, and most of them from people I don't even know via the vegan group. Well, if anyone's interested, they tasted great too; I coated them in a mixture of herbs and spices, and then cooked them on a baking tray in the oven for about 30 minutes, turning them over half way through - just in case you want to make your own. Maybe you do. I mean, someone commented that I might have started something now. That's fine by me. I think it would be great for us to have fun shaped meat-free options. Vegan versions of the unicorns, dinosaurs, etc, you can get made out of chicken and turkey is the whole reason I wanted to make tofu unicorns. I didn't see why meat-eaters should get to have unicorns and not me. So, since I could, I used cookie cutters to make vegan-friendly edible unicorns to go with my dinner. I'd actually consider it a great thing if others started doing it too. I'm sure the children of vegetarian and vegan households would be delighted. Just get a block of tofu, slice it down the middle (the block is usually about two inches thick, so I sliced it so it was only an inch thick) and have fun with your favourite cookie cutter shape. If you can find a cookie cutter in the shape, you can make any shape you want to. Unicorns, dinosaurs, rocket ships, fairies, etc. Then pick your favourite seasoning combination, bake them in the oven, cook some veggies to serve with them - or make some salad if you like - and enjoy.

Speaking of making things:

I had my first attempt at making my own nut butter a couple of weeks ago. I made one involving hazelnuts, peanuts, and walnuts.

It turned out OK. Not amazing, but not too bad either. It spreads on my toast, and tastes good on it, so I'm happy with it. It won't be winning any prizes, but I don't think it's too bad. Next time I'm going to not try and blend the whole batch at once, since that's the only real issue with it: it's not as smoothe as I'd have liked, and really wasn't blending more, so I gave up. I'm pretty sure it's because I was trying to do too much at once. I'll try a smaller amount in the blender at a time next time, and let you know how that works out. Could probably do with a bit more salt too.

Speaking of making things: my November Makerly Crafts box arrived at the time it was meant to. It contained a kit to make a Christmasy ornament. I forget exactly what kind of kit they actually called it, and can't be bothered to either have Kelly look, or go look on their site or social media to find out. It makes me glad I decided to wait until November's box before stopping my subscription though. Yes, you read that right. I stopped my craft box subscription.

It's nothing against them... They're awesome kits, and great for the money too. I'm just not getting around to doing the kits, and have even given some of them away, because I know the chances of me even attempting them are slim. I just kept my favourites; I just kept the ones I was most eager to try and do at some point. Hopefully in the not-too-distant future, but we'll see. Either way, I'm no longer subscribed to automatically get the kits every month.

I'll miss having my happy post. After all, this now means I won't have any coming, since they've now all been stopped for various reasons. One of them got stopped because they no longer do it, one messed me about with payments, and the other is just becoming a pile of boxes I'm not having time to do much more than find out what the kits inside are. Maybe I'll set something else up. Or maybe I'll just use the money to buy some of the books and DVDs I want. We'll see. For now, it's the latter. Or it will be, after Christmas.

On the subject of Christmas, today it's only a week until Christmas Eve. How did that happen? Are you ready for Christmas? Have you done your Christmas shopping? Are your holiday plans arranged? Or, do you not celebrate Christmas at all? Do you celebrate something else instead? Whatever the case, I'd love to know, so let me know in the comments.

I'm ready. Well, mostly. There are a couple of last minute things I want or need to do, but I'm mostly ready. I even have the few decorations I'm putting up this year set up. Including trimming the door with bells and mistletoe, and putting up the cards I've so far received from people...

(The cards are from Rita, my Uncle Philip and Auntie Bev, and another online friend named Corinne).

And setting up a display on the table that features my little wooden tree, the Santa decoration I've had since my first Christmas not living at home, my "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" reindeer decoration, a polar bear, a little light up snowman, and a couple of different candles (two real ones, and one LED one)...


The real candles are a "sugarplum fantasies" one, and a "let it snow" one. The first smells sweet, as you might imagine (it really does make me think of sugar plums) and the second smells kind of like a snowy pine forest.

That's all I'm bothering to put up this year.

Anyway, we spent a large chunk of Thursday baking holiday goodies.

I made Kelly some double chocolate brownies, which I won't be eating since they contain eggs (and are brownies, which I'm not a big fan of anyhow). He was happy for me to use vegan substitutes for everything else, but insisted he needed the eggs. I told him if he wanted to go out in the rain and wind to fetch some, he could have eggs in his brownies. I mean, it's not my place to tell him what he can and can't have in his food. He agreed, and did go fetch some eggs, so his brownies contain eggs, like he wanted. Here's one of the pans of brownies that were made for him:


Since he only wanted brownies, he has a couple of pans of them, where as I have a few small batches of different hings.

For me, we made ginger unicorns and shooting stars...


Choc-chip cookies...


Fruit cake...



And a couple of big mince pies, which were made to use up the stuff I had left from when I made the big batch of sweet mince pies I made back in November, and didn't get photos of. Here's the big mince pies though:


All my goodies are vegan friendly, of course.

Lilie and Logan weren't too happy about all the baking - especially since we weren't sharing the goodies with them - and wished we would stop messing with the cooker and stuff, and just play ball with them...


(Yeah, I found a way to get another puppy photo in there... I couldn't resist).

Anyway, we have the leftovers of all those yummy goodies to eat over the holidays (along with any other treats I might make, since I'm considering makeing some shortbread) Christmas shopping is sorted (apart from a couple of things I'm sorting last minute for one reason or another) and our plans are made. In other words, we're pretty much ready for next week.

So, what are our plans?

We're going for our Christmas dinner at Oscars on December 23rd (because the 21st falls on a Saturday, and I didn't want to do it on the weekend) and we'll be calling various family members over the holidays to wish them a Merry Christmas. That's it ,other than the eating of the holiday goodies we made, my plans to spend some quality time with some holiday movies and books, and maybe doing the holiday craft kits I have waiting to get done (if I feel like doing them). I want to keep things quiet and simple this year, which how few decorations I put up this year probably tells you. I need it this year, and we prefer a quieter Christmas as a rule anyhow; neither of us are large gatherings and parties type people, so the quiet and simple Christmas plans suit us best.

Now it's your turn. Tell me about your plans, and how ready you are for next week.