Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: December 19th

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (usually Saturday night with a Sunday date). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

NOTE: The comments page will split off after 20 or so left margin comments with the most recent comments on the current page. To see the older comments, scroll to the bottom of the page (right before “Leave A Reply”) and use the Pages Tool to view previous pages, shown here with 3 pages of comments available and Page 2 circled.

30 Comments

  1. Good Wednesday morning, MoosePeeps! It’s sunny and cold—34 F. at the moment—and will become windy later on, which will make our high of 45 F. feel less high. I did see the waning moon this morning in the dark sky at 5:30.

    Had a rotten night, which is going to put a thumb on the scale of my day, so to speak. I did manage to complete my Yule newsletter last night but feel dissatisfied with it this morning. I think I’ll reduce the font size from 13 points to 12 points. That should give me a little more room. It’s going to be sent by email for the most part, but I can’t print out anything for the non-computer users until the Cyan cartridge arrives on Friday.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

  2. It’s 29 heading for mid 50s or so and sunny. Yesterday we got 6.1 KWHs and the m-t-d was just a hair under 109. It’s currently a hair over 109 and could get to 115 today. Maybe.

    The White-Pawed Tabby was waiting for breakfast this morning. Possibly a 2nd breakfast as he didn’t come down from the box (with the warm blanket on it) until I’d put the food out and backed away. When he’s really hungry he jumps down as soon as he sees me coming and bumps my hand to hurry the kibble into the bowl. Yesterday midmorning the Silver Tabby (with the green collar and bell) showed up on my back doorstep. I haven’t seen him since last winter when I was feeding him on the back step along with 5 other cats. (One of whom came inside and became Bobbie.) Both cats were back in their respective spots mid/late afternoon. The collar looks worn enough to be the same one as then. And he looks OK. So wherever he’s been, he’s been doing fine until the cold weather hit and he needed more food. Yes, I went out yesterday to get more “outdoor” catfood. Grocery store didn’t have Iams so I got Purina One. I know I could have gotten Iams at WalMart – but the grocery store was crowded enough (at least half the people unmasked).

    Family did bring over Yule dinner – at 8 pm. LOL. We had a nice if short visit. I gave them a box full of canning jars I haven’t used in so long they were covered with dust. Ditto my big roasting pan. They said Jason’s mother was insisting on Xmas dinner Saturday so they’d bring me a plate then, too. Which will be nice. Before 8 pm would be nicer, of course. Once they left I took a bite of everything, ate the cheesecake, baked potato, and some ham, then packaged everything else up for meals today and tomorrow and maybe Friday (except the rest of the okra – that went out into the field next door – I hope the gods like okra). I finished dinner and cleanup by 9 then read by the fire until almost 11 while it all settled.

    Amelia emailed me from her phone about 2:30 her time that the internet had been out since her last DM. She wasn’t sure when it would be back on and didn’t want me to worry. Jill’s discovered that, contrary to what the DMV people had been telling her, she can still get a regular ID with the documents she has and worry about getting a “real” ID once she has an ID to get the rest of the documentation for it. It took a call from her senator’s office to DMV to get that information. Ahem. Natalia’s got a sore throat – said she didn’t think it was COVID but she was going to try to get a test just to be on the safe side. At least the university is letting her work from home and not forcing her to burn any more of her sick leave. I haven’t heard from anybody else. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody.

    I baked some lovely molasses-spice muffin bread yesterday. I was going to bake cookies today but the Yule dinner included, besides the cheesecake I ate, some peppermint bark, butterscotch candies, and about half a small cheese log with GF saltines so I think cookies can wait until next week. Off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  3. Good morning, 45 and mostly cloudy. Temps are dropping bepow freezing in the night now so the fushias are officially done. They have been blooming since early spring and I’ve enjoyed them but now it’s time for the hellebores to bloom in our winter garden.

    Our daughter and her family are back home in Oregon now so my house is quiet. We had a very nice visit, but it was busy with family coming and going and lots of meals to share. I’ve got a few more Christmas gifts to wrap and Christmas eve dinner to prep so it’s another busy day. Best wishes to all.

  4. Thursday Meese. 27 going up to 34 here in Kingston NY. Putting up our tree today – for me it symbolizes my mom and grandmother since all of the ornaments were theirs.

    Glad to see public pressure has worked in Puerto Rico to get the Gov. to back off of the Dick Clark New Year’s Eve party planned for 10,000 people to be packed together indoors

    • Dee, glad to hear the New Year’s Eve party is a no-go, at least the in-person one.

      It never seems to occur to rich bastards that it’s not decent to throw a celebration when people are still using tarps for roofs on their houses.

  5. Good morning, meeses! Thursday …

    It is 28 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 43. Partly sunny this morning then partly cloudy this afternoon.

    I hope the data is correct and that Omicron is not as deadly as Delta. I am vaxxed and boosted but my daughter won’t get boosted until the first week of January. Maybe if Omicron acts more like a seasonal flu, we can just add it to the annual flu shot. Goddess, I am not sure how much more people can take dealing with this pandemic. I agree with Joe Biden that schools need to stay open (with masking) because I don’t think remote learning works for grade school kids – it can be a challenge for college age kids as well. At least Biden is recognizing that people who graduated from college during the COVID years may be struggling to find jobs and paying ridiculously high rent and that they need another student loan debt pause. I am still hoping that he finds a way to do a $10,000 loan forgiveness – it would help a lot of young people to be able to start with a clean slate.

    I am going to set aside all my work projects until Sunday and take a couple days off to celebrate the Winter Holidays. Tomorrow we feast and share gifts, Saturday we sit around like bums and watch sporting events on TV.

    See all y’all later!

    • I am going to set aside all my work projects until Sunday and take a couple days off to celebrate the Winter Holidays. Tomorrow we feast and share gifts, Saturday we sit around like bums and watch sporting events on TV.

      Ha, ha! Sounds like a plan!

  6. Good morning. Off today, gonna buy groceries & pre-cook for next week’s New Year’s soup. I found one recipe I can deal with for blackeyed peas — kale soup. I put other symbolic stuff in, like carrots cut in rounds (look like gold coins). And church this evening — so lovely with candles and bell ringing.

  7. Good Thursday morning, Meese. I see my previous comments have wound up in quite the wrong place. Duhh…

    It’s a lovely frosty morning in Ashburn, far less windy than yesterday, with a current temp. of 29 F., going up to 44 F. As always, I wish I could send our sunlight to bfitz.

    Am so looking forward to staying home today, finishing my Christmas newsletter, catching up with laundry, and whining about lots of things. I also plan to shove Christmas presents into large holiday-type bags and crumple colored tissue on top of them to disguise the fact that I’m very bad at wrapping. I never was a wrap artist.

    M’daughter and son-in-law in Texas have been forced to abandon their plans to serve Christmas dinner for eight. My son-in-law’s daughter has come down with breakthrough Covid, so everyone is busy quarantining. Jeff stated glumly on Facebark that he rummaged in the freezer and found two turkey burgers, so that’s what he’ll cook for himself and Carol. Dear Goddess! I’ll send them an e-card as today happens to be their sixth wedding anniversary.

    Well, it’s high time to get on with my day! Hoping it’s a nice, quiet day for everyone at the Pond.

  8. It’s 48 heading for 60 or so and cloudy. sigh. Also breezy but at least it’s a soft breeze. Yesterday we generated just enough over 6 KWHs to bring the m-t-d to 115. Unless it clears off soon, we aren’t going to do that much today.

    Tabby was waiting for me again this morning. It’s warmer so sitting up rather than “loafcat” but waited until I put the food in the dish before stepping down onto the cold concrete. Silver Tabby was there in the afternoon but either not in the morning or I didn’t see him so he went away again. My cats are all sleeping except Murf. Who is staring at me while I eat my oatmeal. Cats.

    Amelia’s still very exhausted – like can’t get enough energy to go downstairs exhausted. But she’s discovered Amazon food is now covering her zip code and that’s a lot less expensive than InstaCart. And takes a lot less energy than going to Ralph’s or Trader Joe’s. So that at least is a good thing. Natalia’s COVID test was negative and her throat’s better. So another couple of good things. Jill’s tightrope is at least taut enough to walk. Fineena’s depressed/grumpy – partly lack of sleep (so that’s how many of us?) – partly getting the drugs balanced – but otherwise OK. I guess everybody else is hanging on, but I haven’t heard.

    Decent sleep of about 7 hours. But it was the last night I can use the decongestant spray for another 3 weeks. Hold the Good Thoughts for sleep tonight. But that’s tonight. Laundry this afternoon – hanging over and in front of the fire means the sheets will be dry and put away by bedtime and the rest will be dry by morning. Off to Dee’s diary and twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  9. Good morning, 39 and cloudy, but lots of rain all night. I was to tired to do much yesterday, but today should be better. I’ve enjoyed our ongoing Christmas but I’m ready to put the Christmas Spode back in the cupboard to wait until next year. Christmas Eve dinner is going to be easy but festive tacos, then breakfast on Christmas morning and we’re done! Best wishes to all.

  10. Good morning, meeses! Friday, the Federal Holiday of “Christmas Day Observed” …

    It is 30 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 46. Cloudy skies are in the forecast and a chance of rain around midday.

    I gathered my feast yesterday and am wrapping gifts before creatures start stirring. I was not going to wrap gifts this year and I got a sad stare so here I am, scissors – paper – tape!! I will work on my to-do list so that projects don’t leak out of my brain while I take some time off and then I will shut down my computer and celebrate Solstice belatedly. The light is holding steady anyway (9 hours and 0 minutes of daylight since the 17th – the first new minute won’t show up until the evening of the 27th) so that gives us a 10 day window of time to celebrate our holiday which gets no respect from those in charge of federal holidays! :)

    See all y’all later!

  11. Good Friday morning, Moosekind! It’s mostly clear in Ashburn this morning, with just a few white veils of cloud drifting across the blue. Had a very poor night, so my back is already aching. Saw a gauzy half-moon this morning when I took the Mont-ster out. He behaved very badly yesterday. It’s 36 F. now, going up to 59 F.

    Haven’t finished shoving presents into Christmas bags yet. Received a surprise message from Miss Pink Cheeks on SnapChat. She sent it at midnight. She wants to come here, sleep over tonight, and share our Christmas dinner. She may have had a little too much togetherness with the nuclear family, as they returned from North Carolina yesterday. These almost-teens! Anyway, I’ll find out tonight whether this will be permitted.

    We’ve hired a dog-sitter for two hours while we attend Elder Son’s party. We’ll be home around eight p.m., after which I plan to watch “A Christmas Story” for the 1,000th time. I always laugh at what happened to the turkey.

    I’d better get on with it, Moosekind, so will wish you a peaceful Christmas Eve and a happy Yule tomorrow!

  12. Good morning. So, today is Friday and therefore Christmas Eve — I thought yesterday was. Today, I’m going to my little co-op grocery in hopes they have the rosemary sourdough rolls I like. And to Goodwill, looking for a power cord for my computer. Then, Christmas Eve church, with the candles & bells. Currently watching Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them. It’s a sweet movie.

  13. Good morning on Nochebuena Meese. We had snow here in Kingston and flurries will continue all day – rain predicted for Christmas.

    Puerto Rico

    Because of the Covid, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico cancels its presentation at the Cali Fair, 8 of its members are infected.

  14. It’s 60 heading for 75 and sunny. On Xmas Eve. (My cool-season grasses are growing, I’ve got dandelions blooming, and the blackberry canes in the riparian buffer behind my fence are leafing out.) Yesterday we got 5.9 KWHs and start this morning with the m-t-d at 120.9 – we’ll probably make 150 by the end of the month. Probably.

    I got 3 hours of sleep last night. Or rather early this morning from 3:30 to 6:30. So I’m a bit loggy. And fuzzy-brained. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody – that this year get them from wherever they are to “safe, secure, and comfortable” (& rejoice for everyone who’s already there).

    Off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  15. Good morning, 37 and cloudy. My thoughts are with family today, feeling weary but grateful. And wishing Sophie a Happy 15th Birthday. Christmas birthdays are often overlooked or combined with Christmas but we’ve always tried to celebrate both with her.

    Best wishes to all on the Christmas Eve day.

  16. Merry Christmas Meese!

    Puerto Rico

  17. Good morning, meeses! Saturday, Christmas Day …

    It is 37 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 39. Cloudy this morning, clearing this afternoon then sunny skies. Yesterday and last night we had dense fog – I hope people traveling for the holidays stayed alert. There was a nasty pileup on I-94 in Wisconsin heading north on Thursday morning due to ice, 40 vehicles and lots of damaged/delayed holiday gifts in the ditches. It seems impossible that no one was severely injured – I hope the news reports were correct on that.

    I am going news lite today. I can’t believe how rude MAGAts are, telling Joe Biden to fk himself when he is on the phone to give good cheer to the MAGAt-infested children. I hope that man’s children grow up to despise him and reject his toxic politics and hatefulness.

    I am working on server maintenance this morning – it is unlikely that people are working today which gives me a clear path to rebooting workstations and servers. I usually do the maintenance on Sunday mornings but I decided to get ahead of the curve. I still need to get caught up on accounting projects – next week is the last week of 2021!

    See all y’all later!

  18. I woke up early so I got to see the launch of the Webb telescope. Christmas present for all the nerds. It went well, the solar array is deployed & it is headed to a million miles from Earth. Only plan for the rest of today is a movie this evening.

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