70 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 11-29-16”

  1. Good morning, AJ and everyone else. I’m still having coffee and trying to wake up before Beccca-boo comes down (she usually awakens around 6:15). Got a lot of my Christmas shopping done yesterday with all the online sales. Hooray!!!

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  3. I was looking at some discussions on the “Politics” thread. Cheryl was talking about a guy with two PhD’, and a guy with a GED.
    I have noticed over the years that it isn’t so much “what you’ve got” as “what you do with what you got”.

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  4. Good morning from rainy Atlanta. My alarm went off at 5:45 because I was going to take Karen for an early doctor’s appointment. I heard from her a little before time for me to leave that she had stomach problems so she did not feel like going. At least I am not having to battle traffic in the rain. I get to save that for another day.

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  5. Men!!! For a year I have been telling Mr. P that I wanted to mount his GIANT TV on the wall. He hasn’t wanted to “put a hole in the wall”. He likes it at eye level.
    Yesterday he went to Best Buy and bought a wall mount to hang the TV.
    I do find this humorous.

    We got rain yesterday and last night. I never thought I would see the day that the South needed rain as much as we do or that areas of the South would be in danger from wild fires such as Gatlinburg, TN last night.

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  6. Good Morning…it is quiet in the forest, But it is cold I tell ya….11 degrees. I am so blessed to hear the south is receiving rain! More quilts to launder today…and I’m not cooking for anyone today…it’s fend for yourself Tuesday…and Wednesday…and possibly Thursday!! 🙂
    That kitten up there sure is growing up fast!

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  8. It’s cold here, too, but it’s not 11 degrees. 🙂 It’s 50 degrees. I love my heater.

    Already sent a message off to the editors, 4 people shot in our community early (6 p.m.) last night, sounds like right around the housing project area. Two women, a man and a teen-age boy all taken to the hospital but are OK, non-life threatening injuries. Suspect remains “at large.”

    I need to contact the plumber today, that spare bathroom sink is still really leaking, I think even when I’m not using it (which I barely am). That floor is probably shot. Sigh. It’s getting to be like whack a mole around here. New vanity for in there arrives sometime this week, maybe I can just wait for that and have him come over to do it all, change out the pipes and put that thing in (and rip out the now-soggy carpet).

    I also need to take some photos of the wood windows I want repaired, I found a blogger — Old House Guy, or something like that — who has written extensively about repairing old wood windows and insists it can almost always be done. He has a service where you can send him photos and he’ll respond, so I want also to ask him if he knows of anyone in my area who would be able to tackle this job. I have 3 guys still to get over here for estimates, the one seems like he might flake out and I haven’t called the other 2 yet.

    If I didn’t have to work this all would be a lot easier to handle.

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  9. First it was the coyotes …

    Now LA’s favorite celebrity mountain lion, famously captured in a photo striding near the Hollywood sign (or was that one of the other mountain lions?), is in big trouble.

    http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-alpaca-mountain-lion-20161128-story.html

    _____________________________

    Mountain lion P-45 is suspected of killing 11 alpacas in weekend attacks above Malibu

    State officials said Monday that a mountain lion known as P-45 is strongly suspected of breaking into two ranches in the hills above Malibu over the weekend and killing nearly a dozen alpacas and a goat.

    The owner of one ranch where 10 alpacas were killed secured a special permit Monday to shoot and kill the big cat, said Andrew Hughan, a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. …

    “The homeowner did everything she could to protect her wildlife,” said Hughan, noting that the animals were kept in a locked area with barbed wire and motion-sensing security lights. “This lion was very determined to get in there.” …

    … P-45 dined on only one of the alpacas, leading wildlife officials to suspect he may return to feed later. The cat wears a radio location transmitter and has been linked to other attacks in the Malibu area.

    In late November 2015, ranch managers at Malibu Family Wines discovered that P-45 had attacked one of several llamas in a pen shaded by oak trees at the 1,000-acre ranch. The lion returned a few days later and killed an alpaca. …

    … Anticipating criticism of the permit to have the lion killed, Hughan called on the public to remember that a woman lost a significant part of her income as well as her pets.

    “If your livestock is killed, you have the right to get this permit,” Hughan said. “This woman is obviously upset.” …

    … Several mountain lions roam the roughly 275 square miles around the Santa Monica Mountains, an area with busy roadways, housing developments and commercial districts.

    In March, the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens announced that one of its endangered koalas was apparently killed by a mountain lion known as P-22, who was born in the Santa Monica Mountains and crossed the 405 and 101 freeways to make Griffith Park his home in 2012.
    _______________________________

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  11. Don’t ask, don’t tell is my motto. 🙂 It’s why I have the cat.

    OK, so photos of my windows just sent to the “old house guy” — mainly wondering if he has referrals to someone near me who could do the work. Website says he’ll respond in 2 days. I’ll call the other 2 guys today to see about setting up appointments.

    And I’ll text the plumber about the spare really-leaky bathroom sink. That new toilet he put in there also needs adjusting, it won’t (ever) flush on the first try, I think the water tank isn’t set right or something.

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  13. Still, maybe worth calling just to get an estimate and assessment of how do-able this job would be (or not). Replacing them would be a whole lot more expensive.

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  14. So, apparently, nineteen year old let her older brother have her old flip phone and he had a friend get a hold of it when he went to prison. The brother and the friend ran up lots of charges and left it for daughter to pay. We told daughter she should not have it in her name so she would not be responsible for it. Other brother got the phone and changed it to his name. When he went to prison, the bio mom got a hold of it and got it back in daughter’s name and ran up five hundred dollars of charges for daughter to pay. Does that sound possible?

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  19. Mumsee I believe daughter should be contacting the fraud unit of the police dept….file a report and send it to the cell phone company….unfortunately it does seem underhanded people get away with so much……

    Liked by 2 people

  20. I think it is both possible and probable that she had the needed info, name, dob, ss, account #, to contact phone company posing as daughter. I would encourage her to change to something like straight talk, where it is prepaid, without billing. Sad that she has to keep repeating the same lesson.

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  22. I had that very conversation with son about being sure the lid was on cat food storage, as their job is to catch mice, not sit around eating cat food.

    Liked by 3 people

  25. it is not a phone she uses. She got herself a smartphone and wants to be the hero to her bio family and they seem more than willing to take from her. But then, she is quite dishonest herself and makes up things to draw attention. Only God knows but she is digging herself in deeper and deeper. Sad to see. Such a broken girl, but God can heal her.

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  26. I stayed with a family in the mountains with two cats. One was a 15+ yr old Siamese, the other a young cat (calico, I think). The woman had a mouse in her kitchen cabinet. She shut the calico in there. After a few seconds there was a scratching sound. The calico wanted out. So she put the usually docile Siamese in the cabinet. Right away there was frantic scratching. We thought the cat wanted out right away, so she opened the cabinet. Out came the mouse followed by the cat which promptly and surprisingly swiftly caught the mouse and ran off with it. Good mousers are quick even when older.

    Liked by 3 people

  29. Of course, one response to the mountain lion story was that it should teach us that we need to rein in development. 🙂 I guess ranches are considered development …

    Liked by 1 person

  30. Donna,

    I think you should immediately start up a local branch of Alpaca Lives Matter. Point out to the public how these poor, unarmed alpacas are victimized by those probably racist mountain lions. Appeal to their inner do-gooder. Maybe even apply for some funding from George Soros, so you’ll look legit.

    Just speak to your fellow Californians in a language they understand. 🙂

    Or you could do like most states and control the population with rifles. I know, I know, that’s crazy talk….. 🙂

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  32. I love those cats. 🙂

    Mouse has really become quite the momma cat. She loves that baby and treats Jemma like she’s hers. 🙂

    I’m going to video this new thing that she does now. Whenever she hears the baby meow, she starts too. Now Elizabeth has gotten in on the act and starts meowing, and she gets Mouse going like crazy. It’s so cute. 🙂

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  35. Now that I think about it, that video clearly shows it is the alpacas who are racist. Look at the video. Notice the white alpacas are in the front. The tan, brown, mixed, and a few poor, white alpacas have been relegated to the back of the herd. Classic example of racism. They need to check their white privilege.

    Maybe it is actually the mountain lions who are the real victims here, and the Californians were right all along…. .

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  36. Last night, our son (the plumber) said that yesterday a customer told him that she was watching her small gray cat out her window and saw a huge hawk swoop down, grab, and devour him.

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  37. Alpacas can spit. I guess that is as effective as shaking pennies at coyotes, though.

    But I believe alpacas come from South America so they are not native here, like the mountain lion. Alpacas have to go. That does not apply to humans, and I agree, but why does it not, in the minds of those who decide these things?

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  38. They like to do that. One of the reasons we have guineas is because of their watchdog ability. Gives the chickens and turkeys and cats warning and a moment to run for cover.

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  39. Another delicious meal. I thought of Cheryl when I made the split pea soup and Chas as I added the onions. Yesterday, when it was new, we had fresh cornmeal biscuits. Today I made pita bread and added some venison that had been thoroughly beri beri ified. Talk about spicy! It was delicious and they went well together. Seconds were had by all.

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  40. We have an alpaca farm located a mile down the road from us…the owners shear them and make things…hats, socks, gloves, blankets (I have a blanket) they are cute and many in these parts raise them. The rancher across the road from us has a llama protecting his cattle…we do have coyote and mountain lions around here…so they do need the protection…Donna maybe you need to add a llama to your family of furry friends… 🙂

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  44. I had donkeys, I loved watching them run and listening to them. But then we had caretakers when we left the country and then he got sent to Iraq and she could not take care of them so she sold them. We never saw the money so don’t know what she got for them.

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  45. The only way I would want one of those is if I were a mountain lion.
    I am generally opposed to introducing non-native species such as kudzu and English Ivy.
    Having said that, I know the horse was not native. It gave the Indians mobility. It changed their lives.

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  48. There’s going to be a workshop — with coffee and cookies served — to explain to people how they have better enclosures to protect against mountain lions.

    Lions, tigers and bears …

    Llamas are a good coyote deterrent but they also can stomp out dogs so you don’t really want to mix those two. Although with a mountain lion around, I suppose it’s all moot point.

    Liked by 1 person

  49. Serious question: What worries wildlife officials with the alpaca slaughter is that it appeared to be mostly “for sport.” Do cougars and other wildlife commonly do that?

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  51. With the fires in the Smokies, the timeshare my sister-in-law owns (and has let my husband and I use, paying some of the fees, three times) has largely been burned. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-gatlinburg-fire-westgate-resort-damaged-20161129-story.html

    The last time we were there (in May), my husband said he wouldn’t go back–the employees are so pushy and so rude, and this time they actually instituted a brand-new fee, charging for internet access (even cheap hotels don’t charge for internet access these days). But we spent three weeks there over the last four years, and it’s weird to see video of much of it charred ruins.

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  52. I have a friend who has a pistachio orchard. The irrigation system is a mess, with lots of leaks. She posted a photo of a coyote, having just chewed a hole in the plastic pipe to obtain water. I commented that she had a perfect shot for a .22. The firestorm that followed was just silly. One guy insisting that a .22 would not kill it, etc etc etc. My friend plans to put in some water troughs to discourage the problem. I’d imagine it just depends on which is more convenient when it’s thirsty.

    We have mountain lions here, also. One was sighted in town during the day. Deer were scarce for a couple of weeks.

    The “killing for sport” reminds me of what it looks like when a skunk gets into the chicken pen.

    I caught a crow stealing an egg, in his open beak, from the chicken house this morning. Time to thin out the crows.

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  54. Animal thread today, I see. We have a cat and a turtle. No one’s mentioned a turtle yet today, so I thought I would add that to the list. 🙂

    Cute kitties in the header.

    Liked by 1 person

  55. Nothing wrong with introducing non-native species when they are controlled. Animals used for farming or raised for food. Most of the cattle raised for beef are from Europe. It’s plants or insects that are a problem, like kudzu in the South, tumbleweeds (Russian thistle) out West.

    Around here there is an Asian beetle with no natural predictors introduced to control aphids. They look like lady bugs, but a little different in color. The birds won’t eat them because they’re too bitter and pesticides don’t kill them. They have almost wiped out the native ladybug population here.

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  63. Long day with a night meeting to cover. The cat was starving — STARVING — (she said) by the time I got home at 8:30 p.m.

    Tess’ ear seems to be clearing up nicely. She no longer has to wear the cone as she seems to be leaving it alone.

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  64. Old House Guy says my windows are definitely fixable based on the photos I sent him. So someone from window restoration company is coming out next Thursday morning (they may be expensive, but at least they’ll give me a knowledgeable assessment — the handymen who’ve come out so far seem stumped and aren’t really interested in taking on the job). I also have a call in to another guy and a rejuvenation window place in Indiana — which is recommended if windows do need replacing — also says he’ll send me a quote if I provide him with measurements.

    Fixing will be cheaper than replacing, I’m pretty sure. And it’s preferable to me to retain the original look of the house.

    Meanwhile, I’m trying to see if I can get as much of the bathroom work as I can scheduled for the week of 12/12 since I have signed up for a “stay-cation” that week. Real Estate pal says he’ll see what he can line up. It really would work out well and I doubt anything will get scheduled before that anyway. S-L-O-W going here. 🙂

    The bead board will ship out from Texas on Friday and should be here sometime next week, so that timing worked out after all (thought it would arrive too late and miss the rest of the project, but since everything is taking so long and getting so delayed, it’ll work out OK).

    Still need to deal with the leaky sink pipe in spare bathroom …

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  69. I posted on facebook that I got a golden ticket in my mailbox. Those are the yellow cards that they put in your box when you have a package. I only get a package maybe once a year. So it is pretty exciting. But…. the PO is only open in the afternoons on Thursday so I have to wait a day for a package. Mostly it is the things that I left behind and asked my daughters to send. But you never know what they might have added.

    Liked by 2 people

  70. Bucket under vanity + using (mostly) other sink. By “dealing with,” I was thinking more along the lines of getting a plumber here to actually “fix” it. 🙂

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