the sun is coming back?

the sun came up early yesterday! 

made a believer of me

spring is a long slow dance -

step forward, step back

and mud mud mud

meanwhile, speaking of mud, 

mudpie put pots of herbs at her tiny houseboat window, 

even tho Raglan Shire is still covered in snow.

feels good to see them there.

let your smile be your umbrella - my birthday version!

let your smile be your umbrella

let your grimace be your shoe

let your smirk be your sombrero

and you'll find a love that's true

let your frown be your long underwear

and your sneer your pocketbook

let your grin be your ballet shoe ribbon

then you'll know you're off the hook!

I thought of this poem in my sleep last night and wrote it down when I woke up this morning!  A good birthday poem! 

(You have to stomp and clap to the fiddle and banjo, and join in on the chorus)

bumpersticker time warp!

sooo many books!
one day we go through the ones on the living room shelves
our oldest shelves, that daddy built for us
when we first bought the house.
this book donate to the library, this to the swap shed, this - trash pile!
have to search thru the give-aways for bookmarks -
we tend to use what comes to hand
eviction notices, love letters, photographs, blade of grass, strip of newsprint
omg - a bumper sticker marking a place in a really big book.
ok we have lots of bumper stickers
but this one!  we could sell it on ebay... or ...
put it on the car!

which we did.

hood ornaments

one of my neighbors has a new hood ornament on her jeep - the bowler from a bowling trophy!

she told me she got the trophy at the dump -- there's a shed for sharing good stuff you don't want but don't want to throw away.

i was amazed because i also had a bowling trophy i got at the dump years ago!

(it's also where i got the Buddha that sits on my shrine even to this day)

i've had lots of fun with my trophy, sneaking it onto the office shelf with all the awards.

visitors will remark "I see the company has a bowling team!" to the confusion of whoever they've come to meet with.

but i was ready to give it up, so i gave it to my neighbor to put on her other jeep! 

now she has matching male and female bowlers guiding her way down the road.

bunny cat

this came to me with the information that Penelope is now a bunny.
then later i received an update that it is not actually Penelope but some other cat that looks like Penelope.
you can believe what you want.

warming trend?

when i drove out of the driveway this morning at 9,

the temperature (according to my car's thermometer) was -6 F 

(that's -21.11 C to you differently temperatured). 

tonight at 9:30 when i drove back into the driveway,

the temperature was 25 F (-3.89 C). 

feels like a heat wave coming in!

fetch boy! meow!

my cat was was a retriever in his last life, maybe a black lab.

with tiny toy mouse in mouth, he comes to me and drops it on my feet.

impatiently, clawishly, jumponmeandmesswithmylaptopishly he waits for me to pick it up and throw it.

and he brings it back fast!  barely does it leave my hand and he is ON IT!

tiny mouse in mouth, he trots back to my feet.

again and again.

it isn't fair!

i keep cats to avoid such doggy demands.

books!

after the floods i needed some escape from the strangeness and disorder and difficulties of for example no running water.

many friends and strangers were helpful in many ways.

liz brought me a bag of books!

thoughtfully chosen, each different, each thoroughly enjoyed.  i met a couple of new authors and lots of laughs and new ideas. 

only one could i not get into and i may try it again before i give them back to her.

here's what she brought:

The Thread that Binds the Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker
Hunting Party by Elizabeth Moon
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross
Zodiac: an Eco-Thriller by Neal Stephenson
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett
The Android's Dream by John Scalzi
 .

the pond

by the time i got around to taking a walk it was coming on dusk with a brightening moon.
up the hill, around the block, past the small mill pond, then down dark backstreet where coming towards me were 3 burly young men -- big boys really -- with blades and sticks! 
heading for the mill pond...  hockey sticks and ice skates.
yes boys still skate on mill ponds.
a good winter for it this year, very little snow so they don't have to clear 2 feet of the stuff off the ice.
on my way back, they are bearishly hockeying around their net at one end of the pond and at the other end a daddy is helping a tiny girl on tiny skates, while mom with baby on back photographs the scene. such a patient dad...whatever happened to "put a pillow in their pants and give them a shove?"
i get home before dark, thinking of the amazing time i skated on mulder's pond, round and round in the dark with all the stars blazing overhead.

.

say what?

Osprey:  I am using virtual worlds as my condiments.

cat typing

what Barney cat-typed while i was AFK on the phone:

,.nb              mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmpoooooooooooo


.

looking in looking out

a burst of birds flies
through my email - behind me
they pass my window

                  
                                ~mudpie

tea

apparently tea can get moldy.

even tho it is merely flavored water.

esp if it is left in a pot and the pot is put away in a cupboard for

say a month or two.

for my sister

i'd thought we learn to mother

by how we are mothered

but when it came your turn to care for mom

i believe you were a better mother to her

than she had been to you

and she a better child than you had been.


.

boxing day cold with snowy ground and fluffy clouded blue sky

despite all the hard work i did in the last few days, making the house ready for christmas and a party, here on the morning after christmas i am up early and feel happy energy.
the house is still clean and in order, other than the mountains of dishes to be put away, the wrappings and paper hats strewn about, the tablecloths all rumpled by the kitties during the night.
we have so much food in the house! alas most of it is of the dessert kind, that everyone loves to make to give to someone else!  i think because nobody officially stated they were bringing dessert, everyone thought they'd better fill in the gap and bring several.
my libby's pumpkin pie in an excellent organic frozen crust was a big hit! perhaps libby's just defines pumpkin pie for us now. 
after the hours of talking and eating, drinking and laughing, berating politicians and corporations, wearing silly hats and reading stupid jokes from the crackers, everyone left in the dark night. and i felt so content, i sat by the fire for an hour reading my new book and drinking a little more wine. and i slept so well!

christmas is sticky

don't you think christmas is the most weird amazing thing ever?
you can't ignore it
i know, i've tried many times to do that
even changed my religion - but it's a national madness
you're gonna feel something one way or another
after all those years of good or bad 25ths
all those movies and shows of how it should be
all those times it was and it wasn't
best is to dive in headfirst and completely give in
don't fight it, shop, decorate, bake, sing,
invite in everyone you meet, cook a turkey or two.

it's sticky - grabs you up and drags you along anyway
not very pleasant, i can tell you
but you can lay low and endure
go to bed early and next day it's gone
like some one day flu thing
at the very least have some little plan
watch star wars movies all day
eat frozen turkey dinners, don't answer the phone
go to the movies, go to a church
volunteer somewhere - the old the mad the hungry
stay in bed with hot chocolate and your pets and read mysteries.


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

winter lightness

as the nights get colder and colder,
and we add yet another quilt from the closet
once winter sets in the pile gets heavy and then top heavy!

one night it all slides to the floor and has to be retrieved and sorted out.
finally we can barely move and it's time...
time to fold up and put away the blankets and quilts and get out the Real Winter Stuff...
the big down comforters and the flannel sheets!
oooo it's wonderful!

brilliant millions

after autumn fogs
winter's milliant stars stun my eyes
hello my old friends!
                                       

                                              ~mudpie

a long strange Sunday!

this morning i was the umdze and it was my first time leading the new long chants. 

then i had lunch with karen, always fun!

home in time to go to Raglan Shire's annual talent show - fun even tho i could not always get the audio to work.  i took no pictures, but i am sure there are hundreds posted by now!

then to Show and Tell in second life, my sunday ritual.  Barney and Flo have organized and hosted it for i think 6 years.  i've been going for almost 5 years.  this was the last one!  they want their sundays back after all this time.  very sad...i will miss being at the forefront of creativity and with the funnest audience anywhere! 

and then...Gianfar Peaks sims invited all dragons, & dracophiles, of whatever breed, genre, world, age or style, to a memorial service for Anne McCaffrey, beloved author of the Dragonriders of Pern stories, who passed away last week.

held at the Weyr Bowl at Shaula Weyr, dragons of all sizes, and other avatars of every stripe gathered to keen, as is the tradition in Pern. it was heartbreaking and perfect.  i did manage to take some crummy pictures of this awesome tribute: (click for youtube to see bigger)

omg news

mudpie reports she attended zayn & wynx's town hall meeting for tinies and was stunned by announcement that tinies and raglan shire are going to break out silly fun and friendliness to the world at large!  (and hopefully waffles too!)

here is a picture of the meeting

click to see bigger

...and here is a lnk to the next tiny thing - JAZZ PAWS www.jazzpaws.com
be sure to get a tshirt and send them all your spare change!



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