We are getting ready for Christmas, slowly but surely.
Marlanu and the Christmas tree
We have a lovely Christmas tree. It is not perfect, but it is so pretty. It smells nice as well.
And that’s about all we have ready for Christmas.
We don’t have any grand plans. In fact, we have no plans at all for the winter holidays. I shall be working on the night shift for Christmas, but I will have the last days of the year free. I call that a good bargain.
At least I will be starting 2017 at home, with my family. I couldn’t ask for more. It seems kinda dull, but we have barely spent time together this last couple of months.
We have missed on a lot of opportunities to have fun and enjoy ourselves.
We’re having a very cold and wet winter. It just won’t stop raining and it’s bloody cold.
For a couple of days I had no problem with the rain. It was fun walking Pluto to the park and seeing him turn from a cute puppy into a filthy pig. He made a few friends and he was just the happiest dog ever.
We used to hang around in the park for 2 hours each day. It was so nice to see Pluto exhausted from playing and not having to worry that he’ll destroy the house (puppies tend to do that when bored). Of course, Pluto had to take a bath everytime we got home.
Now, nobody will let their dogs play. They don’t want them to get dirty. While I do understand that I have plenty of free time on my hands, I cannot understand why people won’t let their dogs be dogs. So what if they get dirty? You can rinse out the dirt in a couple of minutes. So what if your dog gets you dirty? Thank God for washing machines.
It really sucks, cause December started off so well. It snowed for 2 days straight.
http://instagram.com/p/wEByXhizNs/
Everything was covered in snow and the skies were a beautiful gray color.
I was so happy. Then it started raining and it just won’t stop. So, instead of taking beautiful pictures of Pluto, snow and just us enjoying the winter holidays, we are stuck inside the house.
2 more weeks till the Christmas holidays. I want snow, lots and lots of snow. And a lil bit of sunshine if possible. Until then we shall make the most, even if we are having a cold and wet winter.
Walking the dog is not an easy task. It’s like having a part time job taking care of a fluffy toddler. And the weather is not helping me at all. For the past few days, it snowed, rained and it was really cold.
Normally, I would sleep in till lunch time. With Pluto, I only get to sleep till 7AM. Once I am awake, I gather all my courage to get out of bed. It’s such a hard task, because the heat is still turned off and it’s cold even in the house. The bed is so nice and warm, even Pluto wants in.
Yup, that’s us cuddling in the morning. We’re cute like that.
I must confess sometimes I feel like letting Pluto do his business in the house so I can sleep a little longer. But I never do. No matter what, I always get out of the bed. So, my dear Pluto get’s to walk with me around 2-3 hours a day. This usually depends on the weather. If I’m lucky I may also find another dog walker with a playful pup. This way Pluto gets a playmate. Yet, I haven’t had much luck in that department. Half of the dogs in the area are bigger than my Pluto and they play too rough for my liking. And the rest of the dog population is made of smaller breeds that are aggressive towards anything that moves.
The great part of walking Pluto is no more dog poo in the house. He pee’s sometimes on the hallway, but that’s not a big problem. We can easily clean up the pee. I wasn’t expecting him to be house trained in a week.
Also, after 4 days of dog walking my legs started hurting. It seems I’ve been a couch potato for such a long time that walking is enough to give me a workout. I always say I want to get in shape, but I never do anything to get results. This time, I’m doing it for Pluto and it helps me as well.
It’s funny how I get motivated more for others than I do for myself.
Looking at the bigger picture, we’re making progress. It’s good progress for all involved. I dare say, even for Marlanu’ things are getting better. After all, Pluto is too tired to play with him when he gets home. So the cat gets more time to be a cat.
Yes, Marlanu’ get’s to sleep more than us. He gets the warmest places. And when the dog is away, the cat will play.
I’ve almost finished cleaning the house. I still have the laundry so I can take a small break for my house chores.
While I’m writing this, Marlanu’ is drinking water and Pluto (also known as Smotocel) is sleeping on my foot. You might wonder who Pluto is. Well, he is a 2 months old Labrador puppy. Yes, we got a dog. After many months and a lot of begging, Johnny caved in and now we are 4.
As you might imagine I am really happy with the outcome. We’ve bragged about him to everyone, except to my parents. In fact, it would be for the best if they didn’t find out just yet. I know it’s their house and they’ve allowed us to stay (we pay everything and take care of everything), even with a cat, but I don’t know how they’ll react to a dog that will grow to be 30 kg.
I hope we’ve done a lot of good things so they won’t be that mad when they find out. Because, they will find out and they will be mad. It’s just a matter of time.
Pluto is a really small pup for his age, even if we bought him from a “breeder”. He came to us dirty, with a fake health certificate and no pedigree. We don’t care about the pedigree, but he wasn’t dewormed and he doesn’t have his first vaccine. The vet we went today told us that the signatures and stamps on his health certificate don’t have certain things that all vets normally have.
That means we have to start from scratch with Pluto as we did with Marlanu’. That’s not a problem for us. We wouldn’t have gotten a dog if we couldn’t afford it. It’s just annoying we’ve gave money to someone that does this kind of things.
I’m also happy that Marlanu’ is not aggressive towards Pluto. We we’re worried on how the cat would react to the dog. Well, we left them together alone for 5-6 hours and nothing bad happened. Even the house was in one piece.
I just can’t wait to take him for walks and for him to learn to sleep alone. When people say dogs are like children they aren’t joking.
I haven’t been to Johnny’s parents in a very long time. But I managed to squeeze in a short visit this weekend. Of course the first thing I did there was to play and pet Suzy. While she is an old lady, compared with Marlanu’, she still has that photogenic beauty that Marlanu’ rarely has.
I never seen a cat to look straight at the camera without blinking. Its like she knows she’s pretty and she demands for her picture to be taken. It’s just a pity that I don’t have the chance to see her more often (because of my busy life) since I am certain I could take some pretty photos of her with my new camera. I think I could make an album both with her and Marlanu’.
Finally we went to the countryside. It was about time considering we haven’t been there in a very long time.
It wasn’t anything special. We had lunch, played with the cat, fed the rabbits and just enjoyed the peace and quiet. Seriously, you could only hear the birds and the wind.
It was so nice!
What can I say, I’m really happy that Summer came. There is one thing that I would like to do on the next payday. I would like to go on a drive for the entire day and just stop somewhere and have lunch. I would really love that!
But it will take a little bit longer before that will happen. Till then, here are the rabbits.
There are 3 other white, but they have underground tunnels and most of them go there to cool down or sleep without being bothered.
There are actually 3 generations there. But the oldest one, Vera, doesn’t like to be photographed. They were really funny when we gave them fresh grass. Rabbits are cute when they eat.
And there there’s the cat. I don’t think my father was ever so attached to a cat like he is to this one. This cat, as fluffy and nice as it looks, is a real killer. Everyday a mouse/rat dies because of him.
And yet, he’s the sweetest thing when he comes in contact with humans. The fact that we were eating meat with more meat doesn’t have anything to do with his attitude. Nope, he just loves us like that.
It was nice.
I wish the weekend would come faster, but its barely Tuesday so another 4 days of hard work and then just one day off. Well, I did have a 3 day weekend, I can’t actually complain.
But he isn’t interested in the real flowers. Nope. he was busy sleeping while I stitched on my tulips needlepoint.
If I keep on it, in a few days I will finish the tulips needlepoint.
I am really unsure of how much I like this project. There are moments where the flowers seem too square and then there are moments when the result seems gratifying. I guess, its a love hate relationship and the only way I’ll know if I love this project is by framing it.
Here is a detail of the stitching.
Framing my stitching projects isn’t on any list at the moment so I’m guessing after I finish the tulips they will go to the folder with all the other finished projects.
Still, after I finish the tulips I would love to finish the cat needlepoint. It’s been more than two years since I started that project and it needs just a few more stitches and it will be done. And I will be at peace with myself for finishing something that I started.
I don’t know why, but lately finishing, completing, finalizing, anything that means an end result brings me a lot of joy and satisfaction.
Routine can make one feel tired. The days pass so quickly and so uninteresting that it makes me feel like I’m wasting time rather than being productive.
But its a miracle what a little change in the daily routine can do to one spirits.
Just by leaving one hour earlier and going to the park before work, by visiting a friend during my day off, even reading a book or two. I really do feel much more refreshed and I’m in a better mood than before.
I must admit the weather was really nice and it was a shame not to go out for a walk. Even if I was by myself. I guess being alone doesn’t bother me at all, especially on a lovely early Spring morning.
Yes I do consider that Spring is here. I can actually smell it!
What can I say, when Spring will come in full force all the parks will be full with people so I should enjoy them and their solitude as much as I can.
After that I know for sure that everybody will come out and the parks will be much to full for my liking.
And yet, even staying indoors has it perks when you have a cat.
