Friends Of #FurkidFriday: Bond

Hi everyone. This is Lilie the Westie.

I've got a new friend for you to meet today, so let's see who it is, shall we?

Hello friend, what’s your name? If you have an unusual name, or there’s an interesting story behind it, I’d love to hear about what your name means, or the story behind it, so please share.

My name is Bond. My full name is Mr. Bond, and I prefer my catnip shaken, not stirred. I’m a tuxedo cat, and my human sibling came up with my name. When I was rescued from the shelter, my name was Brad, but that was also the name of my human sibling’s best friend. It could have been weird for everyone if my family hadn’t changed it.

Yeah, that would have been pretty confusing. Oh, and I'll bear that in mind about the catnip. Personally, I'm not allowed any. Anyway, Bond, I know you're a cat, but what species and breed are you?

I’m a tuxedo cat, black and white, with a white chest.

Black and white, you say? That could mean some interesting markings, so please describe your appearance in more detail. Of course, I have the photo you provided to show everyone in a moment, but please describe yourself too, for the benefit of those who can’t see the photo.

Plenty of people have commented about my shiny coat and how handsome I am. If you look at my picture, you’ll see that they’re right. My eyes range from green to gold depending on the light, and I also have a little white mustache. Some people say it looks like a Hitler mustache—whatever that means. All four paws are white, too.

I don't know what the Hitler mustache comment means either, but I do know those who say you're handsome are right, because you are. Also, that's cool about your eyes. So, Bond, what sort of place do you live in? Who do you share it with?

My forever home is in Kentucky with my parents, and I have two human sibling brothers, but I don’t see them as often. One is at someplace called college and the other has a grownup job. Sometimes when he visits, he brings his cat, Sora. She used to be pretty small and I had fun intimidating her and swiping her toys. But not anymore. She grew, and now when she’s here, she claims my cat tower as her own, sleeps in my bed, and plays with my toys. There’s been quite a disturbance in the force, and the balance of power has shifted.

Sorry Sora has claimed the spot of top cat now. Logan tried to do that when he started getting bigger too, but I soon put a stop to that. I'm top dog around here. Anyway, when you're not dealing with Sora's attitude, what’s your favourite thing to do?

I like to sit on the screened porch and watch birds. Mom also puts me on a leash, which some people think is weird for a cat, and lets me out on the patio. One time I actually caught a bird and tried to take it inside to play with it. Mom kind of freaked out and took it away from me. I never understood what the big deal was.

Ah, yes. The humans have a thing about us dogs and cats not grabbing the birds and squeaky things. Not sure why. I mean, we only want to play with them. Speaking of playing, do you have a favourite toy? If yes, what is it?

My favorite toys are balls with bells inside and feathers attached, but I usually rip them off and leave them scattered around the house. If I can’t rip feathers off birds, that’s the next best thing. Sometimes I take the bells out of the balls and hide them. Mom says she can’t figure out how I do it, but that really doesn’t surprise me. Cats are more intelligent than humans.

Yes. Cats and dogs are both more intelligent than humans. Well, most of us. That fact is debatable where Logan is concerned. Regardless, sticking on the subject of favourite things, what’s your favourite food?

I’ll only eat one brand of dry food. When I first came to live here, Mom gave me some smelly stuff in a can, but I tried to cover it up. I also get some pretty tasty cat treats every day. People food doesn’t really interest me—unless it’s popcorn or cheese. Feta cheese and blue cheese are my favorites. I’ve gotten in trouble for helping myself to some in Mom’s salad when her back was turned.

At least you know what you like. As for you helping yourself to your Mom's cheese... Well, she shouldn't have had it within your reach if she didn't want you to share. Hey, speaking of your Mom, what’s the one thing your human does that you love most?

Putting me on my leash outside. In the fall on nice days, my parents like to sit on the patio—Dad watches football and Mom reads—and I’ll lay in the sun or curl up on the couch beside Mom and nap. Football Sundays are good days.

That definitely does sound good, and I can see why you'd love it so much. But we all know it's not always nice things like Football Sundays with the humans, is it? So, tell me, what’s the one thing your human does that you hate most?

Most cats seem to like it, but don’t get that brush thing around me. I might tolerate it for a few seconds, but then it’s just annoying and I attack it and the hand holding it.

Sorry you don't enjoy being brushed. I'm a big fan of it myself. Anyway, Bond, I know your human is a writer. Has she written anything about you? If yes, can you tell us about it? If no, do you think she will in the future?

She hasn’t written about me, but the idea for her first book came from their black cat, Shadow, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge before I lived with Mom and Dad. Since he inspired the story, Mom put a black cat in the book named Eby, short for Ebony. Seems fair to me. Maybe I’ll get my own story someday.

That's interesting about the cat in her first book, and I hope she does write a story featuring you one day. In the meantime, what do you do while your human writes?

I usually hang close. She talks to me a lot and asks for my opinion on things. Sometimes I’ll curl up beside her or she’ll write in the kitchen where she can watch me while I’m leashed on the patio. She doesn’t seem to like it when I walk across the laptop.

That's great that she asks for your opinion on things. I hope she's sensible enough to take your advice. Not sure what her problem about you walking across the laptop is, but when I mentioned it to Mummy, she said she didn't blame her for that. Humans! Anyway, I hear cats sleep a lot, and you're probably due for a cat nap, so I should let you go. Before you go though, is there anything else you’d like people to know about you?

I’d really like people to know that because of some silly superstitions, black cats are the last to be rescued from shelters, if they’re adopted at all. My parents and their friends who’ve also chosen black cats say they’re full of personality and have a lot of unconditional love to give. And I promise we don’t come with any curses or bad juju. Give us a chance.

That's a great message to send out to people. Mummy says she agrees with it too. In fact, she says she had a black cat before - a long time before I was born - and agrees about the personality. So, people, give black cats a chance!

Thanks for inviting me over, Lilie! I don’t get many interview requests—even though I’m usually lying right beside Mom when she writes. More blogs should interview pets. We’re far more interesting than humans.

You're very welcome, and I completely agree! Thanks for coming over, and feel free to let any other animals you know who live with writers know we want to interview them, so they can get in touch too - regardless of what species they are.

***~~~***

About the human:

Teri Polen reads and watches horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. The Walking Dead, Harry Potter, and anything Marvel-related are likely to cause fangirl delirium. She lives in Bowling Green, KY with her husband, sons, and black cat. Her first novel, Sarah, a YA horror/thriller, was a horror finalist in the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Visit her online at www.teripolen.com

Contact Links:
Website: https://teripolen.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeriPolenAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TPolen6
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16114393.Teri_Polen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tpolen6/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/teripolen/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/teri-polen

***~~~***

Subject A36

If genetic engineering could guarantee you and your family perfect health and unparalleled beauty, would you pay top dollar for it? Would you kill for it?

Residents of the Colony would. And do.

Only the Insurgents can stop them.

Seventeen-year-old Asher Solomon is a premier operative with the Insurgents. He and his team have rescued countless hostages, saving them from painful deaths in Colony labs as desirable genetic traits are stripped from their bodies.

He's also suffered more losses than anyone should have to.

Then Asher gets intel that might give his people the upper hand. The Colony is searching for Subject A36. If the Insurgents determine the subject's identity first, they might be able to turn the tide of the war.

Asher and his team embark on their riskiest mission ever, and the stakes have never been higher. But even if he survives the physical dangers, the devastating secrets he uncovers might destroy him.

Grab your copy today from Amazon US or Amazon UK.

***~~~***

I hope you enjoyed getting to meet Bond, and learn more about him and his human, Teri. Show them how much you did by leaving a comment, or sharing this post. Better yet, make us all very happy by doing both!


By the way, we're always eager to make new friends, and looking for guests. It doesn't matter to us if you're furry, feathered, scaled, or whatever, we want to hear from you. So, if you're a bird, cat, chinchilla, degu, dog, fish, gerbil, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, rat, tortoise, or other non-human creature, you share your home with a human calling themselves a writer - yes, blogging counts - and you'd like to be our guest, please get in touch. To find out how, go to the "PetKid Pals" page (which used to be the "Friends Of Furkid Friday" page, but we're in the middle of changing things, so it will be "PetKid Pals" from now on) where you can not only find out how to get your turn in the spotlight, but can also meet all the PetKid Pals we've had as guests in the past. Don't forget to tell your friends to get in touch so we can get to know them too!

In the meantime, thanks for visiting.

Lots of licks,
Lilie

#AmReading + #AmWatching + #AmListening - Media Shares And #Reviews 13-02-20

A story can be like a mad, lovely visitor, with whom you spend a rather exciting weekend.
~Lorrie Moore

Welcome to this week's weekly media shares and reviews post!

*Disclaimer: no matter what's being reviewed, all opinions in this post are entirely my own, and I reserve the right to have them, regardless of who may or may not share them. Feel free to express your own in the comments, but please respect my right - and the rights of other commenters - to have opinions that might differ from yours, and to express those opinions too.

Also, please remember that I read/watch/listen to things in a variety of genres, and for all ages, so you should make sure you check that the book/movie/show/song is suitable for the intended audience before reading/watching/listening to it, especially if children are involved. I take no responsibility for anything which may happen as a result of failing to do so.

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Unless otherwise stated, all music videos are via YouTube.

OK. Let's see what I've been reading, watching, and listening to, and which song I'm going to share this week, shall we? After all, that's the point of this post, and why you're here today, right?

• Reading:

This week was another busy reading week. Most of what I read were short books, which meant I ended up reading six books during the past week. So, here's what I read, along with my book reviews.

The Lords Of Terra by L.J. Goulding
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I've been reluctant to read more of these books, since I found the ones I have read kind of dark. But I'm taking part in a reading challenge where the whole point is to read something you've been reluctant to read, so read this anyway. As it happens, I'm glad I did, since I really enjoyed it. Yes, it's dark - and quite gory in places, especially the third of the stories - but I still devoured all three stories in one sitting. A new favourite? Definitely not. But I'm glad I read it.

The Case of the Mystery of the Bells: Davey & Derek Junior Detectives, Book 6 by Janice Spina
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was another great mystery by this author, which makes for a fun addition to this series, as well as an enjoyable read in its own right. The characters are wonderful, and I'm enjoying watching them grow and learn, while the story - which is a fantastic combination of mystery and paranormal elements - unfolds.

Subject A36 by Teri Polen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was eagerly anticipating this book, having thoroughly enjoyed the author's previous books, and was a little worried my hopes for it were so high I'd end up disappointed. I needn't have worried; I was not disappointed. This is a gripping read, with wonderful world building, a great cast of realistic and relatable characters, and an action-packed plot full of surprises. It had me hooked from the start, and took me on an emotional rollercoaster throughout, leaving me breathless at the end, but eager for another wild ride. The ending is tied up enough to leave a cliffhanger hater like me satisfied, while remaining open enough that I'd have immediately reached for the next book had it been out and available to read, because I'm desperate to know what happens next.
*NOTE: I was given a free advanced copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This fact has in no way influenced either my opinion of this book, or the contents of my review. All opinions given here are my own.

Life’s Rich Tapestry: Woven in Words by Sally Cronin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an absolutely delightful collection of beautiful stories and poems, exploring a wide variety of genres and topics, and often featuring animals. It's impossible to pick a favourite, because they're all so well told, and stir the emotions and senses in one way or another. I devoured the book in one sitting, and would have gladly stayed up past bed time to continue had there been more of it to read. This is not the first book I have read by this author, and it most definitely will not be the last either.
*NOTE: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This fact has in no way influenced either my opinion of this book, or the contents of my review. All opinions given here are my own.

Topsy and Tim: The Complete Audio Collection by Jean Adamson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a cute collection of stories, all of which are just as good as I remember from when I read them as a child.

Royal Blood by Barbara G. Tarn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a great collection of tales, which are wonderful additions to the series, as well as being excellent stories in their own right. "TheWiddow" especially was a fantastic story.

• Watching:

This week I watched the old animated "Dumbo" movie again (just because it was on). I caught snatches of several other Disney movies I've seen several times in the past too, since I had the Sky Disney Cinema channel on for Mollie, since I put it on as a quick option when she wasn't liking something on the other channel, and left it on when she seemed to be enjoying watching it (based on her sitting on one of the ledges in her cage, snacking on something while staring at the TV). I think I've found something other than crime shows that Mollie enjoys.

I also watched more of "NCIS" season 13. I might have finished it, but I also ended up watching some of season 12 again, because I asked Kelly to put it on for me, and he thought I was still on season 12, since I'd left the DVD on the coffee table (I'd forgotten to put it with the ones I'd already seen). When I was finding the episodes familiar, I thought at first it was where I'd seen some of the episodes randomly on TV. I only realized when I went to change disks (after having watched two DVDs, since Kelly changed the disks the first time they needed it, as well as having put the first one on, because I had Artemis in my arms both times) that something wasn't right. Oh well, I enjoyed watching the episodes again anyhow, and I know Mollie won't mind it taking me a bit longer to move on to a different show. *wink*

• Listening:

This week I've been listening to mainly love songs, or music with an element of that kind of theme to it, because I could, and because it's the month of love, what with Valentine's Day being tomorrow and all that. With that in mind, here's "Truely Madly Deeply" by Savage Garden. Enjoy!

#WriterWednesday: WriterlyLinks And #WritersLife 12-02-20 - #AmWriting

A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight.
~Ursula K. Le Guin

Despite having a bit of a cold - though I have at least managed to stop it from becoming more than a bit of the sniffles, and a slight cough - so not feeling 100% during the past couple of weeks, it's been a much better couple of writing weeks for me. In fact, the past two weeks were excellent and extremely productive ones when it comes to my writing. Possibly - in fact, almost certainly - helped by the fact Lilie has decided naps are sometimes acceptable again. Plus, my current sleep schedule has me getting up early, and it's always easier to write when I'm up before anyone but Mollie of the petkids is alert and playful, so that's no doubt helping a lot too.

I managed to do quite a bit of work on the story I've been calling my main writing project - which is a story about dogs, inspired by Lilie and Logan, if you're interested (though I'm not telling you more than that until closer to when I'll be releasing it) - so it's now not so messy. It still needs some work, but it's looking a lot better at this point, and coming along very nicely, if I do say so myself.

I also wrote a few new poems. Actually, a lot of them, especially during the first Sunday of February, since it was a large part of what I did to celebrate Imbolc, as you'll know if you read my first Tuesday post of the month. Though I didn't mention in that post that part of that involved having fun with some poetry forms I don't use much, playing with a couple of the forms on these lists of poetry forms and Welsh poetic forms (I know I've shared the first link on here before, but not sure about the second). I only played with a couple of the forms, but got so in to it that I wrote something like eight poems. Added to the ones I'd written throughout January, and the couple I've written since Imbolc, this means I've already written two thirds of the number I wanted to write in 2020. In other words, I've so far written 20 poems this year.

So, like I said, a fun - and very productive - couple of writing weeks for sure!

Just as a good rain clears the air, a good writing day clears the psyche.
~Julia Cameron

If you're not having as much luck with your own writing, and it's because you just can't focus, take a look at this post on how to write when your 'focus mode' is broken. Hope it helps.

I learned to produce whether I wanted to or not. It would be easy to say oh, I have writer’s block, oh, I have to wait for my muse. I don’t. Chain that muse to your desk and get the job done.
~Barbara Kingsolver

If you write poetry like I often do, along with the links I posted above for the different poetry forms, you may find synonyms.com and HowManySyllables.com useful. I think I may have posted the second of those links before, but it's a good one to have handy when writing poetry, since a lot of forms rely on counting syllables, so it's worth sharing again anyhow.

By the way, if you write stories, have you ever considered writing your story as immersive fiction? If you have - or even if you haven't, but my question made you want to read more about that idea - check out this advice on how to write immersive fiction, and help your readers really get inside your main character's mind.

Speaking of getting inside the mind of your character, here's an interesting post prompted by an author's dark running, which reminds us of the importance of drawing on personal experiences to put yourself in the minds of your characters, especially in situations where they might have to overcome fears, like the fear of the dark, for example.

You are safe inside your mind. No one can reach you there.
~Stephenie Meyer

Sticking on the theme of characters for a moment, here's a great post about writing the mentor archetype.

Also, still on the theme of characters: here are some ways you can make your protagonist more proactive, so your readers will be more likely to feel their story is worth reading.

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.
~G.K. Chesterton

Remember: a writer's worst enemy isn't time management or a bad idea, it's the need for instant gratification. It takes hours and hours of working on your book before you'll have anything you can even show people to get feedback on it. Then takes just as long - likely longer - to build up enough of a following that people will notice when you publish something. So you need to be prepared for that. Make your own goals and milestones, and reward yourself when you reach them.

The writing life is essentially one of solitary confinement – if you can't deal with this you needn't apply.
~Will Self

Though it most often is a solitary activity, there are times when writing isn't a completely solitary activity, and you'll have to work with others - especially if you plan to publish. This means others sometimes the things on your to-do list will rely on others to do their part before you can check them off. But there are reasons why you can't set writing goals that (directly) involve other people. So just bear that in mind. You can make your goals work though, if you set the right ones. After all, anyone can achieve a writing goal - even if you never have before. So write every day - or at least on a regular basis - and make your goals ones you can be in control of. Then one day you'll achieve yours.

Just bear in mind that, while you can still do all the things you love as well as writing, if you want to make more time for writing, you'll have to give up these three things, because creating writing 'practice' time should be your first priority.

Oh, and this is how to set writing goals if you're bad at setting writing goals.

Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.
~Ray Bradbury

By the way, if you write for a middle grade audience, check out this post about writing the middle grade novel.

Even if you don't write for middle grade readers, here are some tips for writing for different age groups.

No matter what age you write for though, watch for those times when the plot of a story gets something wrong.

It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense.
~Mark Twain

Next, here are some ways keeping a journal makes you a better writer, so you might want to consider doing it. I don't these days, but always used to... I went through quite a lot of journals and notebooks over the years. It may not be something that works for you, but it's worth thinking about the idea of keeping one. After all, as the post points out, there are ways it could potentially improve your writing. Or at least help you organize your thoughts about your writing future.

Everything you write is valuable. I’m finding that stuff I wrote a few years ago and shelved because I didn’t feel it worked is now slotting into place in my current project. Never delete anything. The future you will thank you for this.
~Lucy Mitchell

Speaking of organizing your thoughts (and feelings) as much as possible: if you suffer from anxiety - or even if you don't - you might want to check out these survival tricks for a creative's anxiety. If you're someone who needs to make use of things like that, I hope they help.

Finally, here's some advice for when life immitates fiction.

Medical Mutterings, #Vegan #Recipe Experiments, #Tortoise Playpens, And #StormCaira

Happy Tuesday! At least, I hope it's a happy one.

I appear to still be sick; my cold and cough are still lingering. I've thought they were getting better a few times, but apparently not. I'm still sniffly and coughing, especially at night and first thing in the morning. It starts to look like it's going to stop, and then starts back up again. At least it's not getting worse. That's something.

Anyway, another week has come and gone, so let's see what I've been up to, shall we?

***~~~***

Tuesday was my appointment with the dentist at the hospital to look at my tongue.

The consultant I saw had a look at it, and agrees with my regular dentist that it needs to be removed. He's going to do it himself in a few weeks. I'm booked to have it done on March 3rd at 4:10pm.

Officially, he could have booked me in sooner. However, there's a slight complication.

You see, they're insisting on having a sighted person signing for me - again.

At least this guy offered me an explanation that makes sense as to why though.

Basically, there's no official procedure for my situation. Normally people fall in to one of the following catagories:

• People under a certain age, who require a parent or guardian to sign for them.
• People old enough to sign for themselves, with no disability.
• People with a physical disability that doesn't stop them being able to read and understand the document, so allows them to be able to sign for themselves. Such as people in wheelchairs.
• People with a mental handicap, where another has to make decisions on their behalf, since they lack the ability to do so. In which case the person making the decisions would be the one who signs.
• People with some kind of disability who have an assistant with them, who is generally expected to be the one signing on their behalf. This being what happens in most cases with blind patients.
• People who can't make decisions because of the medical circumstances, so their next of kin needs to.

However, I'm a person with the kind of disability that prevents me from reading the document myself, who has the mental capacity and intelligence to make the ddecisions for myself, and is insisting on doing so. Something they don't usually encounter, so have no procedure put in place to deal with. So, since they have no procedure put in place for it, the consultant wants to follow the lead of the gynecologists, since everyone was obviously happy for things to be done that way, so he knows he won't get in trouble for it.

I guess it does kind of make sense, but is stupid, annoying, and a load of hastle that could be avoided if they just let me sign the ******* piece of paper myself. They could even just call Kelly (listed as my next of kin) ask him if he accepts my decision to sign myself, and then - when he tells them he does, which I know he will, since he agrees it's ridiculous that they won't let me - let me do it. But... No! They have to be awkward. *sigh*

So, what all that boils down to is that we need to enlist the help of our friends Andy and Lorna again - or one of them anyhow - to come sign for me. Either that, or put Lilie and Logan in doggy daycare for the day so Kelly can come do it. Either of which I needed time to arrange. Hence me being given four weeks between seeing the consultant and having them remove the lump, since we could guarantee that would be long enough to arrange doggy daycare if Lorna and/or Andy couldn't help. Or give them plenty of notice if they could, which is the case, since Lorna says she'll do it.

Yes, I can assign the job to anyone I want. They just have to be able to see to read what they're signing. Like I said, it makes sense, but is stupid, annoying, and involves some extra steps that are a waste of everyone's time.

Anyway, apparently it will take just 20 minutes to do, since they just give me a local anasthetic, do a quick cut, and send me home. So I should only be at the hospital for an hour or so at most. But they advise I don't eat anything for the first couple of hours, and then stick to a soft food diet for a few days afterwards.

Yeah? Ya think? I'd have done that even if they hadn't advised it. I'm pretty sure even that's not going to be fun for those first couple of days. But only drinking won't be an option, because the only painkiller I can take is ibuprofen, and taking that without food is not a good plan. Weetabix and soup are my plan for those few days... Soft but filling.

Logan is going to be unhappy come toast and sweetie ball time... Might have to have Kelly share some toast with him. Kelly's not a big toast eater, but he will eat toast, and I'm sure he'd do it for those few days so Logan will settle properly.

Yes, my dogs are spoiled. No, you won't change that. *wink*

***~~~***

Wednesday my monthly supplies of the vegan items that are tricky to get locally arrived (like my jars of jackfruit, and a few other things). So I had to get all those put in their places.

Also, this was the day I did a bit of a food experiment, and worked on an idea I had for a vegan cottage cheese recipe, so I could try it in a recipe that called for cottage cheese, which Deanna had posted.

It was the rice and bean pie recipe she posted recently, in case you were wondering. It's a great one as is for vegetarians, but needs some adjustments and replacements to be made for vegans. One of which is a vegan alternative to the cottage cheese.

Deanna did find this vegan cottage cheese recipe. But I had an idea that was simpler and quicker to do, so figured I'd try my own idea first. I might try that other cottage cheese recipe at some point though, as well as check out some of the other recipes on the Loving It Vegan website.

In the meantime, I made my own simpler tofu-based version - which may or may not be what others who have used tofu as a cottage cheese substitute have done in the past - which tasted pretty close to cottage cheese in my opinion, and Kelly said looked a lot like cottage cheese too. I tried it in the recipe, in tortillas with some refried beans, and also just plain on a bit of bread, so I've tested it chilled, as well as cooked with something. The recipe will eventually go up on my website, and I think Deanna is planning to add it to the recipe of hers I linked to in this post, but if you want me to share it on my blog too, let me know, and I'll post it next week.

***~~~***

Thursday I mostly enjoyed petkid time, only doing the day to day things that always "have to" get done, and tried to take it a bit easy, because apparently the two days one after another with things going on took a lot out of me. So, even though I thought - wrongly, as it turned out - the cold might have improved, I was feeling really drained and achy; I was extremely low on spoons, and didn't have it in me to do more than absolutely necessary that day.

I might be doing great compared to how I was before I had my hysterectomy, but I still have health issues to deal with, and still have days - sometimes a few in a row - like that, and this was one of them. Hey, even on these kinds of days I feel better than I did on my best days before the hysterectomy, so I'm definitely not complaining. But it's why I mostly try to do only a few things each day, and most of them can be done sitting down.

***~~~***

Friday we did the dogs' flea and worming stuff, and I marvelled - as I do every time - at how much easier Lilie and Logan are to do it than just about any other dog I've had to do it for. When it comes to their spot-on flea stuff, they'll both come to you when you call them for it (even though they've seen you getting it ready) and stand there patiently while you put it on them. As for the worming tablet: Logan takes it without a fuss, even without it being hidden in anything, and even Lilie will take it without issue if you put it in whatever her current favourite food item happens to be (right now that means ham). Two minutes at most, and you've got the stuff out, treated both dogs, and are done with it. Completely different to all the times I've had to crawl under beds and desks to capture hiding dogs.

Speaking of Lilie and Logan: on Friday I also called the groomer. Logan is booked in for a full grooming session on February 21st at 11:00am, and Lilie's booked to go in at the same time for her nails to be done (since she doesn't need a full grooming session again yet, but she doesn't wear her nails down properly, so those need trimming regularly). They'd have normally been on the same grooming schedule, but Logan missed the last one because of his upset stomach. I was going to just leave him until Lilie was due to be groomed again - especially since that would be right before we plan to get him neutered, so then his fur would be relatively short for them doing that - but he's starting to look really scruffy, and it's getting difficult to keep his fur from getting tangled and knotty (even with regular brushing) so I thought I better get him groomed now, before it becomes a problem for him.

I was still feeling kind of achy and drained - most likely not helped by my cough and cold deciding to inform me it hadn't left after all - so didn't really do much else on Friday, except sort a few eMails (since at least that didn't take much energy to achieve) and discover one of the blogs I follow was talking about this Little Library Cafe site, which I definitely need to check out some of the recipes on.

***~~~***

I wasn't feeling so drained and achy by Saturday, but had a mostly petkid play and DVD day anyhow, since it was the weekend. So, the main thing I achieved was to set up a playpen for Artemis. Actually, other than the "have to do" daily tasks, several games of fetch and tuggy, and watching of DVDs, it was the only thing I achieved. But that's fine.

Anyway, I needed - and wanted - Artemis to be able to come out of the vivarium for playtime without having to be cuddled the whole time (other than bath time, when we have a designated tortoise bath bowl that Artemis is in, which you may have seen in a recent post from Mollie) since it's good for the tortoise to have the change of scenery, exercise, etc. But the tortoise is too tiny to be wandering around loose (even if some people do that) and the pet playpens you can get are made of mesh, with gaps in the mesh that are either big enough that Artemis could easily fit through them, or just right for the tortoise to catch a foot or something. In short, not designed for tortoise playpens. So I improvised, emptied some stuff out of a plastic storage box, and made a little tortoise playpen out of it.

Artemis loved it!

The playpen isn't particularly large, but neither is the tortoise, so it's good enough. I'll look for a bigger box to make Artemis a larger playpen when I can, and sort out a few more toys for it when I do. For now, Artemis has space to stomp around out of the vivarium without getting lost or squished, a log tunnel thing to climb in and on in that space, and some sticks to play with. Like I said, Artemis seems pleased to have those things.

Here's a photo of Artemis in the tortoise playpen:

***~~~***

In a rare display of the weather reports being completely accurate, in the early hours of Sunday morning, "Storm Caira" showed up, bringing lots of wind, and a fair bit of rain too. Luckily, we had nowhere we needed to go that day, since we wouldn't have wanted to be out there. Even Lilie didn't want to go out there. There was nothing much we had to do either, which meant I could enjoy more DVD watching and petkid playtime while listening to the storm.

We tried to get a video of Artemis in the tortoise playpen, but Artemis wasn't in the mood to play. All we got was a tortoise who refused to do more than stomp a little in one spot and look kind of sulky. I'm sharing the clip anyway.







Listen to that wind. Is it any wonder the tortoise was feeling kind of cranky? I mean, look at the storm:







The jingling you hear in both clips is the tags and bell on Lilie's collar. That's her barking in both clips too.

Artemis did play some later, so I tried to get a video of that. In fact, I did a few short videos, and a couple of photos too. But I did them myself, and Kelly hasn't had a chance to look at those to see if the tortoise is actually in them.

I also tried to get some photos and videos of Mollie, Lilie, and Logan. But, again, Kelly hasn't had a chance to sort through them yet. I'll share any that successfully got animals in them in the near future. Probably in a Friday post.

***~~~***

Monday was still stormy, with lots of wind and a fair amount of rain, though the weather was calmer than it had been Sunday. The sun even tried to shine a few times. There was still a weather warning alert on for the area though, complete with a flood warning. Some parts of the country got some snow, and the snow is meant to be heading South, but doesn't seem to have made it as far South as where I am. At least, it hasn't as of writing this, though it still could. I won't hold my breath, but I will hope, especially since some areas only a couple of hours drive from us have seen some.

I spent some time sorting eMails between when I woke up and when it was time to deal with the petkids, and then spent the rest of the morning alternating between dealing with chores, seeing to the petkids, and helping my Mam with something over the phone. The afternoon was mainly spent beta reading a story for an author friend, with some time squeezed in to finish putting this post together and sort a few more eMails between sending her my notes on it by eMail, and needing to go start preparing dinner.

***~~~***

So, that was my week. How was yours?

#Love & #Friendship #Quotes + Words Of #Wisdom For #ValentinesDay 10-02-20

Since Valentine's Day is this month, all my quotes for the Mondays in February are about love and friendship. Enjoy!

***~~~***

Every house where love abides
And friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home sweet home
For there the heart can rest.
~Henry Van Dyke

Let yourself be drawn by the strange pull of what you love. It will not lead you astray.
~Rumi

If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone.
~Maxwell Maltz

All the positive states of mind such as love, compassion, insight and so on, have the quality that you can enhance their capacity and increase their potential to a limitless degree, if you regularly practice them through training and by developing constant familiarity with them.
~Dalai Lama

A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they're not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they're not so bad.
~Arnold H. Glasow

Sensitive people suffer more, but they love more and dream more.
~Augusto Cury

Women, you are not rehabilitation centers for badly raised men. It’s not your job to fix him, change him, parent or raise him. You want a partner not a project.
~Julia Roberts

The first duty of love is to listen.
~Paul Tillich

Today I will tell myself I'm lovable. Just because some people haven't been able to love me in ways that worked doesn't mean I'm unlovable. I've had lessons to learn, & some of them have hurt deeply, but I can still love, & I still am loved.
~Melody Beattie

Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning.
~Paulo Coelho

What keeps us from being monsters are the great artists who teach us to love.
~Ken Kesey

sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.
~Winnie the Pooh

Lilie The #Westie On Friends Of #FurkidFriday Becoming PetKid Pals

Hi everyone. This is Lilie the westie.

As you may or may not know, Mummy's been messing about with things on this blog.

She calls it, "Rebranding the pet feature," and says it's because she feels like she's leaving Artemis out when she says, "Furkids."

Daddy and I are pretty sure Artemis doesn't mind too much - if at all - as long as Mummy continues to provide the tortoise with food, cuddles, and those special lamps it needs, and doesn't make Artemis go in the water more than she absolutely has to.

But Mummy's the kind of human who worries about these things, and Artemis agrees with whatever Mummy says in hopes it will mean less bath time. Or possibly in hopes it will mean extras of her favourite veggies and fruits, since that tortoise is as bad as Logan when it comes to food. Mollie's not much better.

I swear I'm the only one around here who thinks about things other than food.

Although, if there are treats or scraps going, I wouldn't mind seeing what's on offer, in case it is something I like...

Hey, a girl's gotta keep her energy up for playing ball, after all.

Anyway, Mummy and Artemis liked Rita's suggestion of saying, "PetKids," instead. So Mummy has decided we should change the "Friends Of Furkid Friday" feature to "PetKid Pals" as from this month, and not add the "Furkid Friday" bit to our posts.

Since the rest of us don't really care, but know keeping Mummy happy means extra play time for us - yes, Logan, a potential chance of extra food too, if you insist I add that - we agreed to go along with the changes.

So, we have one more post going up with the label "Friends Of Furkid Friday" on it - which goes up next week - and after that it will be "PetKid Pals" instead, no matter if you're interviewed by me...

Logan...

Mollie...

Or Artemis...

I just thought I'd let you know.

Lots of licks,
Lilie

#AmReading + #AmWatching + #AmListening - Media Shares And #Reviews 06-02-20

She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.
~Annie Dillard

Welcome to this week's weekly media shares and reviews post!

*Disclaimer: no matter what's being reviewed, all opinions in this post are entirely my own, and I reserve the right to have them, regardless of who may or may not share them. Feel free to express your own in the comments, but please respect my right - and the rights of other commenters - to have opinions that might differ from yours, and to express those opinions too.

Also, please remember that I read/watch/listen to things in a variety of genres, and for all ages, so you should make sure you check that the book/movie/show/song is suitable for the intended audience before reading/watching/listening to it, especially if children are involved. I take no responsibility for anything which may happen as a result of failing to do so.

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Unless otherwise stated, all music videos are via YouTube.

OK. Let's see what I've been reading, watching, and listening to, and which song I'm going to share this week, shall we? After all, that's the point of this post, and why you're here today, right?

• Reading:

Thanks in part to my main focus being on reading and writing over the weekend, and also in part to the relatively short length of three of them, this week I read five books. So, here's what I read, along with my book reviews.

Airships by Barbara G. Tarn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was an excellent ending to the adventure, and a fantastic read in its own right. Wonderful worldbuilding, great characters, plus a nice blend of cyber punk, appocalyptic, and paranormal elements.

Laughter Lines: Life from the Tail End by Sue Vincent
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a marvelous and entertaining collection of poems. I'm already a fan of Ani from her blog posts and previous book, but I'm sure this book would have made me fall in love with her if I hadn't been. That dog is such a character, and the stories told in these poems are delightful.

Doggerel: Life with the Small Dog by Sue Vincent
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is another delightfully entertaining collection of poems. I loved catching up with more of Ani and Sue's adventures through the stories told in them. If you're a fan of dogs and poetry, I have no doubt you'll enjoy them too.

Open a new door: a collection of poems by Robbie Cheadle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a beautiful collection of poems. The glimpse of South Africa we get in the poetry from that section is fascinating to someone like me who has never been there, and is unlikely ever to do so. Then there are the poems in the sections about family, work, and other personal experiences of the two poets, which will touch your heart, even if you can't relate to the exact same experience. In short, this is a wonderfully written collection of poetry, which I highly recommend.

Death of a Crafty Knitter by Angela Pepper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
My actual rating is 3.5 stars, but I rounded up. This was a pretty good read, but not as enjoyable as the first book. I kind of felt like the author was focussing more on the sarcasm and sense of humour of the main character than on the mystery at times. Also, the title kind of bugs me, because the knitting club essentially seemed to be there just to create a link between something in the story and the title (not to mention, I have to wonder how they finish any projects if their gatherings are like the one we saw all the time, since the little knitting they did during it seemed to just be an excuse to play a drinking game with their wool). So, a good read, but not a fantastic one. Good enough that I want to continue the series though.

• Watching:

This week I curled up on the sofa with Logan and watched some episodes of "NCIS" season 13. I also watched one of the versions of "The Jungle Book" (it was the old animated movie, which I've seen so many times I've lost count).

• Listening:

This week I haven't really been listening to anything. With that in mind, here's "The Bare Necessities" - sung by Bill Murray and Kermit Ruffins - from Disney's "The Jungle Book" (though not the version I watched this week) for your listening pleasure, since - though I haven't seen the version of the movie this version of the song comes from - this is my favourite song from the version of the movie I have seen. Anyway, enjoy!

#BlogTour - The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles; We Have A Character As A Guest, And A #Giveaway Too!

I have a special guest for you today, who crossed to our reality just to meet you all. I'll let him introduce himself.

So, tell everyone who you are.

I am the Shadowdancer, but for those who know me well I am called Olek.

Welcome, Olek. So, tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a half-elven male, I live in Harkenen, in the Tremellic valley. I think I’m about forty, or thereabouts. Let me see... I like food, good weapons, good wine, horses, and antiques gathered from hidden places. I dislike the Witch-Hunters, slavers, bad wine, and rats. Rats taste terrible, and the little buggers get everywhere.

My lady, Ozena, says I’m two men – Olek who enjoys food and good company, laughs a lot and is kind – and the Shadowdancer who will kill a man with barely a thought, a man who has done things which would give most men nightmares.

I hope it's the first of those we have with us today. Anyway, how did you end up in the situation you’re currently in?

Which particular situation? The breaking into a fort full of armed Witch-Hunters; the hunting down of slavers; the liberating of elves; the quest to find an invisible elven city that may not even exist?

I go where my master, the Oncoming Storm commands I go, and where it suits us. My life is rarely dull.

Yeah... I can see that. So, is your life now as you envisioned it? If not – then why?

I doubt anyone’s life turns out exactly as they first envisioned. I am the bastard half-breed son of a whore. I am a thief, a murderer, and an outlaw. Officially I’m dead. But then again, I’m a half-elf – society says I have no rights, no property and I belong to my master as a chamber pot, or a fine rug belong to him. Elves and half-elves are little more than slaves so my prospects were not exactly outstanding. As it is, thanks to Lord Archos, I am wealthy, powerful, and educated. Our lives are not exactly...normal.

Fair enough. By the way, do you believe in monsters?

Yes, of course. I’ve fought with undead, giant salamanders, and Witch-Hunters. I suppose depending on your point of view I could be described as a monster or a monster hunter, and monsters can walk on two legs, be charming, and look like ordinary folks.

That's true. So, you call yourself a monster. Have you committed a crime? What was it?

Define ‘crime’... I assume you mean an act which goes against the laws of the land. The laws of Erana are restrictive, and oppressive, and so I tend to ignore them. Have I committed a crime? How long do you have? I’ve killed so many people I’ve stopped counting. It really does get easier after the first one, believe me. Although my first was self-defence. I’ve stolen everything from food to survive, to family heirlooms, to people, to horses, to money, jewels and books. I’ve burned buildings and sabotaged armies. My existence is, technically, illegal so I may as well have some fun.

OK then. But, do you have a moral code?

It’s more of an amoral code. I am loyal to a fault, and I would never betray those I care for – but as I said I am an assassin, a thief, I’ve been a whore, a blackmailer...

Do I only kill ‘bad’ people? That is a relative term. I don’t kill just on a whim – and I’m careful about it – most of the people are a danger to us, and what we fight for. Or have done something wicked... but not all. Good and bad are such...woolly terms. And it depends which side you come in from.

That's a valid point. So, I think I know the answer to this, but would you kill for those you love?

I do and I have.

I thought as much. But, tell me, would you die for those you love?

Without a doubt.

Good for you, though I hope it never comes to that. Anyway, out of curiosity, how do you think others see you?

That depends on if they meet Olek or the Shadowdancer.

Yes... I imagine that's too true. So, Olek, how do you define ‘heroism?'

Someone who does what must be done no matter the personal cost. One who will fight when others can’t and who will

That's a good definition. By the way, do you believe in god(s)?

Only a fool doesn’t believe in the gods in a world of magic. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not devout, but in a life such as mine it does no harm to nod to the gods now and then.

That's a fair answer. Out of curiosity, if you could have three wishes what would they be?

The first would be that the land of Erana could be free from the tyranny of the Order of Witch-Hunters; the second would be some dragon scale armour – Drakescale is good but dragonscale – now that’s legendary; three – a child perhaps. Although I doubt, I’m a very good role model.

You're probably right on that last point. Still, a child changes people as if by magic sometimes, perhaps that would happen to you. Assuming you believe in magic... Do you believe in magic?

I’m an adept, I live in the house of a sorcerer lord. You take a guess.

I'll take that as a yes. Anyway, Olek, thanks for stopping by today.

***~~~***

Books in which this character appears:

The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles – Book I
The Shining Citadel – The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles – Book II

***~~~***

About the author:
British-born A. L. Butcher is an avid reader and creator of worlds, a poet, and a dreamer, a lover of science, natural history, history, and monkeys. Her prose has been described as ‘dark and gritty’ and her poetry as ‘evocative’. She writes with a sure and sometimes erotic sensibility of things that might have been, never were, but could be.

Alex is the author of the Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles and the Tales of Erana lyrical fantasy series. She also has several short stories in the fantasy, fantasy romance genres with occasional forays into gothic style horror, including the Legacy of the Mask series. With a background in politics, classical studies, ancient history and myth, her affinities bring an eclectic and unique flavour in her work, mixing reality and dream in alchemical proportions that bring her characters and worlds to life.

She also curates speculative fiction themed book bundles on BundleRabbit.

Her short novella Outside the Walls, co-written with Diana L. Wicker received a Chill with a Book Reader’s Award in 2017 and The Kitchen Imps won best fantasy for 2018 on NN Light Book Heaven.

Alex is also proud to be a writer for Perseid Press where her work features in Heroika: Dragon Eaters; and Lovers in Hell – part of the acclaimed Heroes in Hell series.

Social Media links
Website http://www.libraryoferana.co.uk/books.html
Blog https://libraryoferana.wordpress.com/about-a-l-butcher-fantasy-author-poet-author-promotion/
Amazon Author Page http://amzn.to/2hK33OM
Smashwords Author Page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ALB123
Facebook Author Page https://www.facebook.com/LightBeyondtheStorm/
Indiebound Author Page https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=author%3AButcher%2C%20A.%20L
Twitter http://bit.ly/Twi2hJZ3h9
Goodreads http://bit.ly/GR2iqokvK
Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-butcher-8342ab13b/
Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/blog/libraryoferana
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/abmonkey/

***~~~***

$20 Amazon 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Of #Dog Toys, #Tortoise Habitats, #Imbolc Celebrations, And The Rest Of My Week

Another week is over, and we're already in February. Can you believe it?

Weatherwise, it's been another cold, and mostly rainy, week. Still no sign of my snow. A couple of years we haven't had it until late February or early March though, so I'm still holding out hopes for some.

Anyway, what have I been up to during the past week? Let's take a look, shall we?

***~~~***

The main highlight of last Tuesday was that we had the monthly delivery we get with stuff ordered online for Mollie and the dogs. There wasn't anything for Artemis this time, since we've been getting the tortoise stuff from the reptile centre we got Artemis from, so we can be sure we're getting the right stuff (especially while we're new to this tortoise owning business). There was a toy each for Lilie and Logan though, along with their food and treats, and some things Mollie needed. Well, there has to be a toy for Lilie and Logan, doesn't there?

I'd get one for Mollie more often too, but she doesn't really need one every month. Same will apply to Artemis. They'll get new stuff from time to time too though. Yes, I spoil them. No, I don't care if you disapprove of my doing so.

However, When it comes to the dogs, toys don't last them long, since Lilie loves to remove the squeakers. But if I don't get her the cuddly toy with a squeaker kind, she gets so upset Kelly ends up going in to town to fetch her one anyhow. So a cuddly toy with a squeaker in it is what they get. This time it was elephants (I get them the same, because when I didn't, they only argued over them). I actually posted on Facebook and Twitter right after I gave them the toy that I bet she'd have the squeaker out of at least hers by dinner time. Yeah... It took her almost an hour, but she definitely made it before dinner time. And, yes, that's for both toys. Hey, at least it's only the dog stuff she chews these days.

Sorry. No photos of the dogs with the toys. Given Lilie's reluctance to nap lately, I just wanted to distract them with the toys so I could get some things done online. It worked too. Between them settling with a chewie after their walk, them being busy with the toys, and eventually exhaustion making even Lilie have to admit defeat and take a nap, I managed to get caught up on most of my eMails, as well as the posts I hadn't read from the blogs I follow.

***~~~***

On Wednesday, Kelly went in to town to run some errands, as well as get some stuff we needed and wanted for Artemis. While he was gone, I alternated between organizing Artemis' morning bath and cuddle time, playing with Lilie and Logan, and doing a few bits of housework, and Mollie took a nap.

When we got Artemis, we'd gotten the basic tortoise setup, but there were a couple of things that weren't essential, so weren't included with it, that we knew we could do with having. Those things being a cave the tortoise could hide in, and a good flat rock slab for when Artemis feels the need to bask beneath the heat lamp. Since they weren't essential, we didn't rush to get them, but waited until Kelly needed to go in to town again anyhow. We have them now though, and Artemis only had to wait a couple of weeks for them. Not that the tortoise seemed all that bothered about the wait.

So, after I got it all set up, I had Kelly grab you photos. Probably should have waited until after I changed the food, but it was about lunch time when this was being done, and I change the food in the evening. I do it in the evening on purpose, because of the greens being what I'm having for dinner that day too, and didn't want to mess with the tortoise's feeding schedule for the sake of changing the food when I was redecorating the habitat. Plus, it's only now that I'm posting this that it occurs to me the food in the bowl probably doesn't look too fresh. Well, at least now you know why that is. Anyway, here's what Artemis' habitat looks like:

We had to slightly change how the wooden archway was. The sides are steep enough that when Artemis tried to climb it, the tortoise would fall in the attempt. So I sunk it deeper in to the wood chips, so only the very top - which is only slightly sloped, so Artemis can climb it more safely - sticks up above the wood chips. It does mean Artemis has to burrow beneath the wood chips to be in the tunnel, but since Artemis was burrowing beneath the wood chips in there when making use of the inside of it anyhow, that's not a problem. Artemis seems to like it the way we now have it, and we're glad the tortoise hasn't fallen while attempting to climb on top of it, so everyone's happy. The setup is still basically the same. The wooden arch just doesn't stick up as high as it does in the photo above featuring the side of the vivarium it's in.

Anyway, here's a photo of Artemis exploring the new layout:

Sorting those things took us to Wednesday lunch time. Not much happened after that though. Other than pet playtime, I tried to take it easy the rest of the day. I'd been coughing a bit throughout Tuesday night, and woken up all sniffly Wednesday morning, so was worried I might be coming down with something. I drank plenty of fluids - including some elderflower and cranberry tea - and ate a couple of oranges to boost my vitamin C - trying to use natural methods, and hopefully avoid needing anything more - and hoped that would be enough to stop anything developing. Or at least keep it from getting too bad. I also made sure to rest by taking a short nap, and making a point of actually settling to sleep right after toast and sweetie ball time (which now includes the extra step of turning off the tortoise lamps for the night). Luckily, the dogs were willing to co-operate with these plans. Even Lilie.

***~~~***

Thursday morning I woke up early, so figured I'd get up and do some writing. Besides, I also needed to do a bit of post rescheduling, since I needed to move the interview that had been scheduled for this past Friday to another date. Well, I didn't "have to" as such. But it was easier on the person who the pet belonged to, so I agreed to, especially since I had a post of Mollie's I'd been planning to post the following week, so could easily bring that forward to fill the spot. After I'd done those things, I sorted some eMails until it was time to turn on Artemis' lamps for the day, have breakfast, drink more elderflower and cranberry tea, etc.

Lilie has apparently decided naps are sometimes acceptable again, though admittedly often only after a bit - in some cases a lot - of persuasion. It's an improvement though, and meant I managed to get a bit more writing and eMail sorting time in the afternoon. It would have been a lot more, but the combination of the early morning and feeling rough meant I decided to join in with nap time for the last hour or so. Even with that nap, I ended up cutting my reading time short, and going to bed right after toast and sweetie ball time again.

***~~~***

Friday was pretty much the same as Thursday, with only the minor variations caused by having different chores and eMails needing my attention, etc. I was still sniffly, but the cold hadn't gotten any worse, which I was glad of.

Honestly, there's not much else to say about Friday, unless you'd be interested in a play-by-play of what I do in a day? You probably wouldn't, but if you are, let me know, and I'll consider doing one of those, "A day in the life," posts. Although, do bear in mind that my fluctuating sleep schedule means it would just be a look at one day, and not an example of what every day looks like for me, since the next day could go completely differently. I might have things I call, "The usual day to day chores and things," that get done each day, but the time and order they get done in usually varies. Still, if you want to see an example of a potential day in my life, I'll do one of those posts. Just let me know.

Oh, by the way, you've probably heard - if you haven't, congratulations on that, and nice to see you crawled out from under the rock you've been hiding under, since I'm sure even my tortoise has heard, and Artemis spends a large chunk of the day beneath a pile of wood chips - the UK officially left the EU as of 11:00pm Friday night. I'm not going to talk about it, since I try not to discuss politics on here - or at all - if I can help it. But I figure I should at least acknowledge that it happened, even if I don't want to start a discussion about it. I really don't, so please don't try to make me, otherwise I might go join Artemis under those wood chips. Just saying.

***~~~***

I ended up getting up early again Saturday morning, because apparently that's how my current sleep pattern is working. So I messed about on the computer for a while until breakfast time. I did sort a few eMails and things, but since it was the weekend, I didn't worry about whether I was being productive, and instead mostly browsed whatever I felt like online, played one of the accessable games I have on my computer for a while, etc.

Then I dealt with a couple of hours of dogs in tired toddler mode (puppy jail was used, and threats of it being used again were involved too). Once Lilie and Logan finally calmed down, I dealt with Artemis' bath, and then I decided to take advantage of the fact it was a nice day, and sat in a sunny spot with the tortoise for a while, so Artemis could get some natural sunlight (it's not essential, since we have the UV lamp in the vivarium, but it's still a good thing for the tortoise to have when possible). Artemis loves cuddle time, and was enjoying the combination of the cuddle and the sunshine, so stayed like that for a good long time. I loved it too; it turns out tortoise cuddles are an incredibly hygge experience.

After that, I spent several hours curled up with Logan watching DVDs, while Lilie took a nap with Kelly. Then, when the dogs were done napping, had some time playing with both Lilie and Logan, only stopping those things to come back on the computer for a while in the late afternoon to deal with a couple of time sensative things that don't come in until the afternoon (which, I admit, mostly means checking the deal of the day eMails, to see if there were any good book deals I wanted to take advantage of that day, though I did sort a couple of other time sensative eMails too).

For those who don't know, Saturday was also the start of Imbolc celebrations. Officially Imbolc happens on February 2nd, but it's a generally accepted rule that celebrations run from Sunset on the day before, and last until the next day's sunset. Whether I pay attention to that, or just do something on the day, depends what the plan is. This time I started my celebrations the evening before though, since poetry reading and writing was to be my main way to acknowledge the sabbat, since Brigid (the Goddess associated with Imbolc) is a Goddess of healing, poetry, and smithcraft. Considering I'm a poet, honouring Brigid is potentially a good call in my case, and reading and writing poetry is a favourite way of mine to acknowledge Imbolc. So I decided my Saturday evening reading time would involve poetry reading, and read both "Laughter Lines: Life from the Tail End" and Doggerel: Life with the Small Dog" by Sue Vincent (since they're short books, and I started my reading time right after dinner).

The other thing we did to kick off the celebration of Imbolc was to have pizza for dinner, and discover that I was right I could add the jackfruit pepperoni to my vegan garden party pizza and have the best of both worlds. YAY! Yes, we ordered. I had a vegan garden party pizza with pineapple and jackfruit pepperoni added to it. Well, in our defence, bread and dairy are foods associated with the holiday (or vegan dairy alternatives in my case) and pizza covered both of those. Yeah, that's our excuse, and we're sticking to it. Plus, Papa John's had a 50% off all vegan items thing on over the weekend, and it meant I could get a pizza big enough to feed me for two days, plus those extra two toppings, for less than the cost of my usual size pizza. I had to take advantage of that, didn't I? *wink*

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Sunday is meant to be one of the days I take off from writing, and try to limit online activities (I'm trying to do this on both Saturday and Sunday, in the interests of better self care, hence my "playing" more than working when I was on the computer Saturday morning). However, since we were in the midst of Imbolc celebrations, and my focus for that is honouring a Goddess associated with poetry, I decided to set aside part of my Sunday for poetry writing. So I did that when I once again woke up early, along with sorting the reviews for the books I'd read Saturday evening (which you'll get to see in my media shares and reviews post on Thursday).

After breakfast and pet care were dealt with, I did mess about on the computer some more, but avoided doing any work/writing, or worrying about if I was doing anything productive. Just messing about while all the petkids were napping. I had considered going to watch some more DVDs, but Lilie and Logan fell asleep in their computer room beds while I was sat on my computer chair drinking a cup of tea and talking to Kelly, so I decided to mess about on the computer for a bit while they napped instead. Mainly to avoid waking them back up, since doing so could have resulted in Lilie deciding nap time was over, and I didn't want that to happen. Lilie may think she doesn't need naps all the time, but she totally does, whether she agrees or not.

Later, to finish off my Imbolc celebrations, there was leftover pizza for dinner, and more poetry reading before bed for me. This time I read "Open a new door: a collection of poems" by Robbie Cheadle and Kim Blades (again, you'll get to see a review in Thursday's post).

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Which brings us to Monday, which is today to me right now, because it's when I'm putting this post together, but will be yesterday by the time you're reading this. At least, assuming you're reading this post the day it goes live.

I was up early again, so took advantage of that to start sorting the eMails that piled up over the weekend when I was mostly ignoring them - which they have a habit of doing on those days when I just mess about on the computer, and don't focus on trying to be productive - so I could get as many as possible dealt with before the dogs got up. As it turned out, this was a very good thing, since I had the stuff finally waiting in my inbox for something that's meant to be going up as part of a tour for someone tomorrow, so needed to get that scheduled.

This morning, after breakfast, Kelly went to do some shopping, and I took advantage of the fact Lilie sits by the stair gate to wait for him to come home, and Logan settles easily if you just show him one of the chewies the dogs have scattered all over the place, to prep my food for tonight without "help" from the dogs (if you know what I mean). Then I bathed Artemis, changed the water in the bowl/pool that's in the vivarium, etc.

Now the petkids are all napping - like Artemis is in the above photo, which was taken just a few minutes ago - and I'm using that quiet time to get this post written and scheduled, since I didn't get a chance to deal with it earlier this morning, which is what I normally would have done.

My cold hasn't developed in to more than a bit of the sniffles and a slight cough (the latter only at night) so I'm hopeful the elderflower and cranberry tea, combined with lots of oranges, is doing its job, and it will go away soon. Can but hope, right?

It's actually lucky that's the case though, since I've got an appointment to see the consultant about the lump that formed when the area of my tongue that got cut while I had the broken tooth healed, and the appointment is for 10:20am on Tuesday February 4th. So I'll either be getting ready to leave for it, actually at the appointment, or already done with it by the time you're reading this - depending on when you read this post. The hospital called asking if I could make that time. No. I didn't expect to be seeing someone so quickly either. They didn't seem concerned with how I sounded as regards the slight cold over the phone, so hopefully they won't be annoyed at me showing up a little sniffly.

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So, that was my week. How was yours?

#Love & #Friendship #Quotes + Words Of #Wisdom For #ValentinesDay 03-02-20

Since Valentine's Day is this month, my quotes for all the Mondays in February are about love or friendship. Enjoy!

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All things originate in the mind. Actions and events depend heavily on motivation. Appreciation of humanity, compassion and love are key points. If we develop a good heart, whether our field is science, agriculture or politics, since motivation is so crucial, they’ll all improve.
~Dalai Lama

You can’t just sit there and put everyone’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can’t. You have to do things.
~Stephen Chbosky

The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much and forgetting that you are special too.
~Ernest Hemingway

Real love is opening your heart to the unlovable. Real gratitude is giving thanks when things aren't perfect. Real generosity is sharing when you have very little. Real courage makes the 'impossible' — possible, with real faith.
~Bryant McGill

Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm & constant.
~Socrates

Girls want a guy who says I love you every night and proves it every day.
~Unknown

Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.
~Paulo Coelho

Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.
~Muhammad Ali

You can’t make any one person your world. The trick is to take what each can give you and build a world from it.
~Sarah Dessen

Wounds heal. Love lasts. We remain
~Kristin Hannah

The most valuable gift you can receive is an honest friend.
~Stephen Richards

Spread love. Hug the people you care about and make sure they know that you care and appreciate them. Make it known to your friends and family that you love them.
~Germany Kent