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Showing posts from March, 2009

At least the sun is shining this morning

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I was not happy with the snow this weekend, it's planting time and snow makes it very difficult to do it. I really want to get some of my cold weather greens and such into the ground. One of these years I will get a decent harvest of broccoli and I need to get the seeds in early. Hubby got my Linux upgraded to Fedora 10 and my Wacom Bamboo tablet works like a dream on both GIMP and Inkscape. I spent a good part of Saturday figuring out what I can draw on which program and seeing which each works best at. So far things like my Hippie Dippy Hippie work best being rendered via GIMP and I can then import them into Inkscape for adding text and other elements. Went to the drag show on Saturday. Had a good time. Dressed up a bit: Got some pics of a couple of the performers: Miss Claudia: Dizzy Skyscraper, who had come up from Boise: Stayed up way past my bedtime, but it was fun. I did get some video , tho it isn't the greatest since I didn't take my camcorder and used my digital s

The latest from Purple Ducky Designs

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For Easter: For a bit of that 60's retro feel: And for a bit of fun, add a Hippie Dippy Hippie into your life:

AHHHHHH!!!!!! MUCH better!

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It is amazing how much relief one gets when a loose tooth finally comes out. I suppose I could have gone to the dentist when it started coming loose, but why bother paying someone when the darned thing was going to work itself out eventually. Yes it was a pain the butt while it was taking it's own sweet time doing so, but nothing more then just a bother I could deal with. Pity I don't have all the teeth I lost as a kid and after having my wisdom teeth out, I could make a pretty cool necklace, tho I do have the other molar that came out a few years ago, earrings anyone?

We aren't crazy! The stove IS possessed!

Our handyman friend finally made it by last night to look at our stove. It decided a couple weeks back to stop working properly. The burners would only work on high and medium high and the power outlet I plug things like my crock pot into also stopped working completely. In the past when this has done it we've pulled it out, unplugged it, opened up the back and poked around. Couldn't find anything wrong and put it all back together and once it was plugged back in, would work again. So we told this to our friend and he checked it out. Fuses were good, he used the meter to check what he could. Pulled it out and poked and prodded and when we plugged it back in and fired it up, everything was working fine. He thinks it is possessed. In the meantime he will be checking with his stove guru to see if he has any ideas. If need be we can have him come in and look at it and see if he can figure it out and finally get the darned thing fixed. Butane is expensive if I have to keep using my

Kitty cat Thursday

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Finally got a couple pics of TC, the semi-feral we are feeding: He seems to have problems ducking when it comes to squabbles. We tackled him last night as he'd gotten whomped real good and the area seems slightly infected. Hopefully the hubby and I can get him into a kitty burrito with a towel tonight so I can finish cleaning his owie since he will not sit still to have the area properly cleaned.

WHEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The hubby surprised me again last night. I got home, puttered a bit getting dinner started and then went to sit and check my 'puter. Imagine my surprise to finding a Wacom Bamboo graphics tablet attatched to my Linux machine! WOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, it wasn't the Bamboo Fun we'd wanted to get, but we are on a budget and hubby couldn't find one we could afford right now. So it is the basic Bamboo for now and I am having fun with it. Still having a bit of trouble getting it to run on Linux, hubby says he needs to upgrade me to Fedora 10. So in the meantime we do have it running on my Windoze machine and will install it on my laptop so I can take it with me. In the meantime I am getting the hang of it, it is a lot better then the Genius tablet I tried out a week or so ago. Here are a couple quick drawings I've done in GIMP: The 2nd one is a hippie dippy hippie I've been drawing for years. I think I got the basic idea from a friend way back when, but it was so

I think I'll live

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The cough has gotten to a manageable level and I don't feel quite so run down. So I think I will probably survive to see the summer. Not a bad weekend, got lots of rest and very little done. I did however get some potting soil into some starter pots on Saturday and got some Brandywine, Black Russian and some regular tomato seeds started: The tray has a plastic lid, so I have a little greenhouse going on the top of my stove. Eventually I'll move the seedlings into the office where they can sit on a shelf under a full spectrum bulb where the cats can get them. I plan on planting them both in the ground and in containers so I can have plenty of tomatoes. I will probably pick up cherry tomato seedlings a little closer to planting season. I do have lettuce, spinach, beans and pea seeds ready to plant once it is time. I did manage to get some laundry and dishes done. Also we took a sample of the fish tank water over to have it checked. Water looked good. I have a gold fish who is doi

Happy first day of Spring y'all

And it actually feels like spring too. The temp when I got up was 41F and while it is a bit overcast, the sun has been peeking out. Another sign of spring is the local crop duster, hubby heard it yesterday, so it is most definitely spring. So I am really getting ancy to get out and start digging in the dirt. I should see what seeds I can get started this weekend so I can have something to plant when the time comes. Just need to figure out where in the house I can do that without the kitties killing any seedlings. On the crud front, I am starting to get better. Broke down and bought some of the musinex stuff, the name brand as it was on sale and a bit cheaper then the generic. Jeeze that stuff is expensive, but it seems to be doing the job. I take 1-2 tabs every 12 hours and it is working as advertised. I'm planning on not doing a whole heck of a lot this weekend, going to try and get more rest and finish shaking off the crud. At least I'm getting sleep and not coughing the nigh

Kitty cat Wednesday

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Her Imperial Highness, Ms Phoebe Mouseflinger Underfoots and one of her favorite toys: And Rum Tum Tiggle, making himself comfy in the condo as only he can:

Reg article: Obesity witchhunt is a 'moral panic'

The hubby came across an article during his daily read of the Reg: Obesity witchhunt is a 'moral panic' - sense out of Texas We need a total ban on Body Mass Index statistics By Lewis Page Posted in Biology, 17th March 2009 14:16 GMT Comment A lone researcher has dared to speak up against the obesity health insanity outbreak, one of several sweeping the western world as medical professionals attempt to shift blame for rocketing healthcare costs onto their customers. Samantha Kwan (http://www.class.uh.edu/sociology/facultyandstaff_skwan.asp) of Houston Uni says that the current obesity brouhaha - with its talk of chocolate taxes etc - is nothing more than an outbreak of media-pumped mass hysteria. -snip- Most of the comments are pretty good, tho there are a few of the usual put down the forks and you won't be fat comments. One comment even mentioned Sandy's Junkfood Science blog as a good source of info, which of course it is and I highly recommend people put it on thei

25 YEARS?!?!?!?!

Just got an email congratulating me on 25 years service here at the U. It's been that long already? Started school in 1979, worked while a student, then almost full time starting in 1984 and then full time permanent staff since 1990. Yup, 25 years. Oy! I never imagined actually staying in one place that long. Of course I was planning a career in the National Park Service, so working in the circulation department of an academic library is a serious 180 from what I had planned for my life. Regrets, not really. If I had gone on my hoped for career path I would not have the wonderful hubby I have now and all the great friends. Not to mention the wonderful fringe benefit of all the books I can read without having to pay for them LOL. Tho I do regret a little not having the fun of working in the great outdoors I had worked on a 4 year degree for. Oh well, such is life. It would be boring otherwise hehehehehehe So I made it back to work. Managed to sleep thru the night without coughing (o

NOT FAIR!!!!!!!

I hate being sick. In retrospect going to work on Friday was probably not a good idea. At least today my sinuses have cleared up. My poor knows, er nose is chapped like crazy, even with using the puff kleenex with lotion. I went thru most of a box yesterday. Now I just need my lungs to stop gurgling when I breathe. The snow is going away. it's been drizzling today and was rain last night. Temp is in the 40s, so that will help. Got a Genius G-pen 4500 on loan to see if I like it. Tried it out for a little while on Friday night, haven't felt up to working with it much otherwise. I think a graphics tablet will work out once I get the ang of it. Problem it is doesn't work on Linux, so I have to use it on my Windoze machine. Oh well, it we decide to get it I can do my graphics on the windoze side and then port them over to Linux to finish up my designs. With luck I will feel better later to give it more of a try out. Needless to say, with being sick this weekend I haven't do

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!

Everyone have their black kitty ready? LOL So I made it back to work, the cough is manageable, I can at least cough without my eyeballs falling out. Right now the most annoying thing is the sinuses. I've popped an antihistamine (can't do pseudonephrine) and while it is drying up the sinuses some, it is also giving me a headache that just won't go away, even with aspirin. BLECH! Now if only my ears would stop stuffing up when I blow my knows. It is very irritating. So it is Friday, I suppose I could have stayed home one more day, but then I would have started bouncing off the walls. I hate being stuck at home doing nothing (remember the fun I had last year with my knee surgery?). So I came to work. Thankfully spring break starts this weekend and it is quiet. Fingers crossed we'll hit the 40F temps they are predicting, I really want this snow to melt and the weather warm up again. I am getting desperate to take the inserts out of the windows and open up the house to let s

*COUGH* *HACK* *HACK* *COUGH*!

Day two of home with the crud. Woke up Monday morning with a sore throat and by evening it had gotten worse. But the time I woke up Tuesday morning it had settled into the top of my chest. So today it isn't quite as bad, but I've been coughing, which hurts like heck. So here I sit on the couch with a bottle of cough syrup and LOTS of hot tea. Thank goodness for the DVR and DVDs, there isn't really anything to watch on regular TV during the day. I hate being sick.

It's Monday and it's snowing.

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At this stage I am ready to give up on seeing spring. Tho the snow is supposed to taper off by tomorrow, just in time for single digit over night temps. I am hoping the forecast for Friday is correct, supposed to get up to 45F. So it snowed several times on the weekend, tho it didn't start until the afternoon on Saturday. We'd gone down to Lewiston shopping so it was almost warm enough to not need a jacket (but not quite). We hit snow once be got back to the top of the hill and it was really coming down by the time we got home. Hit Costco and a couple other stores. Picked up some goat milk cheddar and some brie at the Grocery Outlet. Also picked up another tool magnet for the kitchen. For $3 for the 12" one I have a nice knife holder to join the 16" one I had put up previously. Now all the knives I use are handy and no block taking up valuable counter space: Total cost for the two was about $8. Which is half the cost of a 12" wooden one from a chain kitchen and b

AUUUGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

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It snowed yesterday. Today it is still here and not going away for a while. Way too cold to melt it as yet. It is SUPPOSED to get up to 33F, but I'm not holding my breath. It's showing snow likely thru the weekend. SOB!!!!! My poor flamingos, I am going to have to get them little hats and mufflers if this keeps up. Not much planned for this weekend. Need to do a bit of shopping, have to hit Costco at some point ans we are out of kitty crunchies and the kids will be VERY upset if we try and foist some inferior brand on them. You'd think they were spoiled or something LOL. Have to see about a big bag of AP flour so I can get more bread dough going. Baked the last loaf last night. I want to try the recipe for sandwich bread they have in the book. TC is coming in more often. I need to get some current pics of him. When I got home yesterday he was waiting to be let out. Hubby was surprised as he hadn't realized TC had been in the house at all. My best guess is he let him in

Kitty cat Wednesday

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Rum Tum relaxing after coming in soaking wet on Monday night:

Holy purplebunnypoop!!!!!!!!!!

I sold a couple of bumper stickers to some in AUSTRALIA!!!!!! Serious kewlness!!!!!! AUSTRALIA!!!!!! Now, I was expecting to eventually sell some things to Canada, but I figured that with the world economy that the chances of selling to some other foreign country was pretty minimal, esp when you facotr in shipping charges. So actually SELLING something to someone in Australia is WOW!!!!!! The bumper stickers in question are a couple of political ones I did early on: I think for myself and DANGER! Informed constituent . From what hubby was saying about what is happening in Australia in regards to politics and the increasing Nanny Stateism there, they are very good stickers for people there. So my Monday is not so dismal LOL.

YAY!!! FEBRUARY IS OVER AND MARCH IS HERE!!!!!!!

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Just a wee bit happy it's a new month LOL. Means that Spring is all the more closer and I am seriously getting the gardening itch. Because it is March I don't even mind that it is cold and rainy out. Been a fairly non-productive day, slept in until about 10:30ish and have been on the computer since puttering about with stuff for my shop . The have new green t-shirts for the time being, hopefully they will continue them past St Patrick's Day since a lot of my designs look really good on them. I have a new design in my shop, just for cat lovers: I have managed to get some FLYing done, a bit of puttering about in the kitchen. Still have to do some laundry or else I'll be going to work nekkid this week LOL. Waiting to watch the race, I managed to get an extra 90 minutes on it so hopefully the race is over before the recording stops. Hubby is napping so I am waiting until he gets up before watching it since he likes it too. Didn't get any soup going, will just have to d