Neighborhood Watch

First a picture of Pascal, the actual sleeping cat from previous post. Now, she is sleeping on the sofa in 'her spot' having harassed me first complaining that I am on the computer way too much.

We had been invited to an open house gathering in the neighborhood from 2-4pm today, and in the spirit of happy neighborhoodliness, we joined the gang. Walking from no.10 (our home) to no.2 (party home) lasted a good 2 minutes in the cold weather. Even with the ultra cozy coat and scarf of protection, the wind licked behind my ears, down my neck and swirled around my ankles. Upon arriving at our party, I was already chilled and wishing to snuggle on a sofa wrapped in a blanket. Now I remember why we try to stay inside the warm place we call home.

After the extremely brief chill factor, the party was worthwhile and we spoke with many neighbors we had not previously met. We met the guy across the street who obviously has much time on his hands. In the past we had only waved to each other as I began or ended my daily work commute. He and his wife have the odd tendency to collect leaves and branches, leaving the ground spotless. This, I may note, is not all that odd if it is your own yard. I do think that it's odd that they collect leaves and branches from our driveway and surrounding cul-de-sac across the street from where they live.

We also were pleased to meet the original owners of our own house (no.10). Quite a lot is now clear to us... We heard how she used to be a dog breeder while living here (There were FOUR Labs living in our little back yard) and how when they sold the house, she had left a full map of what and where she planted in the yard. I learned sadly that we used to have beautiful lilacs in the back. Alas, there are no signs of these lost plants. There are still remnants of the plants in which she obviously took great pride; snowdrops, daffodils, bluebells... The few straggler tulips were originally from friends of hers who brought them directly from Holland. Gardening however will be another blog for another day.

Happy New Year!

Why drop a boring spherical shiny object? Here in Maryland, we like to spice things up a bit (Old Bay style that is...) In Easton, MD they proudly have the dropping of the crab. Being about 80 miles from Easton, Dan & I chose not go to view the annual Crab Drop, but instead opted for a much quieter evening at home with friends. Anyhow, you know how raucous those Crab Drop party-goers can get. Dinner was Thai food, delivered of course, and we caught our friends up on the most recent season episodes of The Guild. Afterward, I tromped the competition to win the first round of Carcassonne. Afterwards I was stomped on by Mike, but that's all for the best. We had an excellent time of things, and finally crawled under the covers around 1:45am.

Right now, Dan is making waffles! and I am stuck under sleeping cats. We send to you all our best wishes for a wonderful new year. Remember, every day is fresh, with no mistakes in it.

By the way, this picture of a sleeping cat is not the one actually sleeping on me. This is Neko, sacked out on the porch after a hard day of pouncing. The current sleeping cat on me is Pascal. I can't even move to get the camera for that picture.