Saturday coffee pot post

Pablocito posed in perfect lighting for a photo shoot yesterday. Sandy started taking photos and then I took some from a different angle. I love the Batcat shadow.

This also had the purpose of being my “before” photo of the chest of drawers, which hasn’t been cleaned off since at least 2017, since I found a receipt and an Amtrak ticket stub from that year. But the photo really doesn’t show just how bad this spot was. There’s a reason that I have shied away from cleaning it for so long, despite swearing that I was “going to do it today!” It not only has piles of dust and cat hair, but many bowls and containers that have a mishmash of coins, earrings, buttons, miscellaneous shit that I pick up in the parking lot for found object art, shells, rocks, beads, various toiletries, hair bands, and barrettes. That is just so far. I am sorting those bowls out now and I apologize for the coin shortage this year, people. Turns out that I am responsible. I will turn them in.

Also, that oil painting of the lion cub on the wall? I painted that when I was 16. There was a bit of a rebellion in my art class. Several of us wanted to paint animals and abstracts. Our teacher didn’t want us to, so we did it anyway and she wouldn’t help us. She was really put out with me by the time I quit, which was soon after this painting. I didn’t want to paint landscapes, tobacco barns, still lifes, and flowers any more, at least not in her style. My mother was pissed at me too, because the art teacher was her friend. I found this in the back closet when we cleaned out her house.

Here’s the progress I made yesterday:

Pablocito isn’t arrogant and regal. He is actually quite a goof.

Diego often grooms Pablocito but it seems to be a dominance thing because it almost always ends in a fight. This time it didn’t. I’ve noticed that this issue seems to be the pillows. If Pablocito is on a pillow, Diego has to have it. Last night he wasn’t on a pillow.

We had crab cakes, broccoli casserole, and corn for Christmas dinner last night, which we ate on the sofa while we watched an episode of Schitt’s Creek.

I did some laundry and the plumbing held up this time! At first I let it drain into the old washtub in a couple of buckets. I had no idea how much water a washing machine uses – those buckets filled all the way up on just the wash cycle and then I had a time getting them out the door because they were so heavy I had to transfer the water to smaller containers. So I tried putting the hose back into the drain for the rinse cycle and it didn’t overflow for that load or the next two loads. Hallelujah, a Christmas miracle! Thank you, Baby Jesus!

Not sure what is on the agenda today. It is really cold outside. I think that I will try to organize and clean up my studio space a little more and sew more masks. I put more books in the box to go to McKay’s and to Boomerang Books. I have two boxes that are filling with miscellaneous stuff for either Reconsidered Goods or Goodwill. I’m going to pack a box of some family heirlooms for my niece Brooke whether she wants them or not. Her son can help her sell them if she doesn’t want them.

It feels so good to get rid of stuff and clean up the dust.

I end this post by giving thanks to the Co-vid testing people at Cone Health – Sandy was tested on Christmas Eve morning and got an email with his negative results on Christmas night! Way to go, health workers! I wish that I could give you all big raises!

He was feeling much better yesterday so I hope that his symptoms will eventually go away now that he has stopped taking statins and he has been doing low-impact exercises to a video once or twice a day. From what I’ve read, this may take a while to build his muscle strength back once the toxicity is out of his system, and there could be some permanent damage. Hopefully we will know more once he sees his doctor.

This is why I have resisted taking statins for my cholesterol. The difference between us is that Sandy had a heart attack ten years ago, and he loves sausage.

He was so relieved yesterday at how much better he feels after only two days off the statins that I realized just how upset he has been for weeks and was covering it up. He said that the reason he doesn’t complain when he feels bad is that if he starts he is afraid that he will never shut up, like taking the finger out of the hole in the dike. I told him that I will never mind if he needs to talk about his health.

God knows I do.