THE GATHERING PLACE- Take 12 (apologies to Dave Brubek)

have at it, my friends, my People

Time Out!

Ha ha! I had the same thought, calm.

You could have gone with Time Further Out!

Time (my children) Is Of the Essence...of what i'm not sure..but it sounds good, right?

;-}

and, yes,,it's Dave Brubeck...but i don't know how to change the misspell..unless i delete this whole thing...DUH..

#4: LOL! You're right. I like that album better.

Mozart Piano Sonata number 11, K331

Robert

Huh ?

Oh, yes I have been able to play that Sonata. Maybee I should dig it up again.

Has been very cold here in Oslo, -7 C today, -15 C on friday. Just a little snow, but in the west of Norway it is snowchaos.
USA are all over the news with snowchaos on the eastcoast, maybe the same weathersystem.

I am finished with all my Christmasgifts. I am THE booklady. Everybody in the family gets some books from my library in addition to the real gift. So my bookshelf can breath again.

The third movement of the Mozart piano sonata that Robert refers to is Alla Turca, which is also known as the Turkish Rondo. The first song on Dave Brubeck's 1959 album Time Out is "Blue Rondo à la Turk". This album also includes the cut "Take Five", one of the most popular compositions in modern jazz.

Time Further Out is an album recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1961. This album isn't as famous as Time Out is, but it's just as good, IMO.

Hello all!! Just finished putting up Christmas decorations in the snow yesterday, what a joy. Now off to decorate my tree and to read for awhile. Have fun all!!

20in of snow in my front yard this Sunday. Neighbors with snowblowers ROCK!

sure Brubeck wouldn't mind - especially this time of year

"light dusting" of snow in the forecast today....and i hope that is so....cold and grey and blah.....and i can't find my copy of TIME OUT!!! Damn!

Ooh I just opened a present from work and it contained a gift card to Borders. Now I can't wait till I receive all my presents so that I can buy some books for next year. Plus I will have to work on my list of books I would like. Doing the happy dance.

I've just reviewed a thriller, Islands of Instability by M.C. Miller. Short version: Recommended. Last-minute gift needers take note...a well-made thriller with a compelling female lead! Topical settings and situations! Good stuff!

I know my cats will give me a book, a thriller, but I can't tell more cause I am not supposed to know.

My cat Sofokles is a supersmart cat. At 7 o'clock in the morning he opened the door to the bedroom, jumped up in the bed and miaued in our ears.
Hubby got up and gave him food, but I went to sleep again. The next I heard was a scratching noise behind my head. Sofokles was busy trying to get the switch on the lamp to work. He got some help from me, and was so happy.
He understood how to make light and understood that I would get up with light in the room.
This was good planning and I woke up in a very good mood.

My husband doesn't like to feed the cat - in the morning - he leaves that to me - so Aslan always goes after my husband first - he knows I don't get up until a bit after Dennis, so if Dennis is still in bed, I won't be getting up too soon and therefore Aslan isn't getting fed - once Dennis is up I get yelled at, though the new feeder that gives aslan food at 1 am seems to be quieting the "yelling" at 6:30 a bit

Having plenty of food means nothing to my Neffie. If she feels it's time for me to be up, she'll come into the bedroom and complain loudly--and at a distance. Sometimes she'll stop if I hiss at her, but not always.

For a period, two years ago Sofokles started to wake us up at 3 in the night. I told him to shut up, and he stopped a little while, just so long that i got to sleep again. New complaining. I woke up again. I had to do something. So every time he woke us up in the night, I hushed him into my office, said "timeout", and shut the door. The first weeks he yelled about halv an hour before he shut up. After some time I could just say "timeout" and he was running into my office. Now he do not wake us up in the night at all. He understood.

IaaS......smart kitty you have there!!

Yea, he is smart and he is old, 17 years this summer.

In the morning when she wants food (anytime from 6am) my cat Cleo (4 y/o) will yowl, bat at our faces with her claws only partially sheathed and when that doesn't work she will jump on our dressers and start to bat anything on to the floor (pens, perfume, keys etc) and she knows if she goes for my contact lens case she will get an instant reaction from me! But really she's adorable and I love her (believe me?).

Will be on the road tomorrow. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Everyone !

For all the cat lovers.........just ran across this today:

A tote bag with cats & books.........cute!!



For more info:

http://tinyurl.com/ykr8tyk

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too cindy and all my other friends here at LT!! Hope Santa brings you everything you hoped for and safe travels.

That would make such a cute book bag.:-)

Cute picture. Cleo is clever, she make plans.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

God jul og godt nyttår.

Love both pictures.

Merry Christmas everyone

Happy Holidays and safe journeys (for those not staying at home).

Finished A Room of One's Own this morning. The book is a fascinating look at fiction, the female author, and what's necessary to write well. While some of her arguments might seem untrue, they always warrant consideration. I was surprised to find her prose accessible, her personality evident and embracing no matter how fervently she agued. A book worthy of reading by any reader or writer.

Merry Christmas everyone!! (Or whatever holiday you celebrate!)

An early Merry Christmas! to everyone, as I'll be busy busy busy tonight and tomorrow with friends and family.

Here's hoping that everyone gets lost of bookish gifts. ;-)

Happy Holidays to all. Hope those of you in the middle of the country dealing with weather challenges find a way to cope.

Merry Christmas to everyone here on LT! :-)

We have about 8" of fresh snow on the ground as of 10:45pm, here in Illinois ~ with more possible as the wrap-around effect of that front moves through. No one predicted we would get this much. I sorta kinda wanted to get out of the house today, but instead I worked on photographing antiques to sell on Ruby Lane.....but tomorrow, I will lounge & read.

we had rain here in NEPA and it has washed away most of the snow that was here - we did have snow on the ground for Christmas, but not from what came down from the sky that day - we are supposed to get it for New Year's though and my daughter has to head back to Georgia next Sunday

Should I be glad the snow is gone? I think it's safer, since the re-freeze of melted snow gives us black ice, but it was so...festive. I think, on balance, I miss it.

Here we got a lot of snow for Christmas, about 60 cm (24"), and it is cold and it is getting colder; down to -20 c, -4F the coming week. Winther is here, colder than usual.

It is looking like NEPA will get a white New Year's Day - a week late for the effect, I think and my daughter has to go back on the 3rd and miss her brother's birthday once again (it's the 5th and he'll be 30 this year - now how did that happen!!!!????) Oh, well, I think Sarah will be happy getting back to a warmer clime (then again GA had 6 inches in a storm last year - an amount we here in the North don't even think twice about - it closed UGA for two days!)

I had to share this with all of you - Abe Books' Weird Book Room: http://www.abebooks.co.uk/books/weird/index.shtml

titles such as
Teach Your Chicken to Fly Training Manual
A Cow is too Much Trouble in Los Angeles
The Who's Who of British Beheadings

- OMG, with touchstones!

>42 emaestra:

What a Hoot!! Thank You!

;-}

OOOOOOOOH! Porchy! want that bag! lol

Ah ha.... made it over to the right thread at last.

Love the cat tote, Porchy! What a find.

I went to the movies today and saw Sherlock. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are fantastic as the sleuthing pair. They decided against acknowledging Sherlock's penchant for morphine and made him a little bit humorous. The movie's awakened my need to re-read all the Sherlock Holmes books again.

We saw that too, cameling - I liked it but thought it was a little slow, my family liked it and I have a book of Holmes stories on my shelf which will probably make its way to my 101 challenge

Porchy I love that cat tote. I may just have to splurge at some point for that. I love animals, cats and dogs especially.

We have two cats and they work with each other to get food and to be let outside. My male cat (Lucky) has learned that I do not wake up in the middle of the night to let him out. He has tried and I politely told him you are not a dog. Use the litter box downstairs. He just sulked and then curled up at the foot of my bed and went to sleep. My hubby on the other hand would get up and let him out. I have put a squash to that. The female (Whiskers) usually sends Lucky upstairs to try and get us up early in the morning to let them out. They have both learned that if they don't bother me I am more willing to let them out once I am up and dressed.

Our cats also like to sit at the dining room table when we are eating hoping a plate will get placed in front of them.

Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday!!!

Well, I dusted off Hound of the Baskervilles last night ... just couldn't resist getting back to a good Holmes read. ahhh..... my old friend.

Cameling & koalamom I saw Sherlock Holmes today too. I really liked it. Loved Downey & Law as the pair. I could have sworn the bad guy Lord Blackwell was Andy Garcia--was surprised it was an unknow actor.

MAUREEN! There you are...are you well? Blown into the Sound with today's winds?

I haven't seen Sherlock Holmes yet, but I love Robert Downey Jr's work. He's always interesting.

Hoping to sneak off to see Holmes soon. Love both main actors; glad to hear it was good!

No Cinema for me, to cold outside.

Sofokles, the cat, is jamming and complaining about the cold and the snow outside and he want his litterbox in from the cellar. We say no, go outside to pee. He do not want to go outside so he is complaining the whole way to the catdoor. And when he comes in again.

Here it is now 7F. we live near the fjord. My mother lives 5 minutes with car from here, today it was -8F outside her apartement. Brrrrrr.

hmmmm how would you like to be forced go out to pee?

barefoot?

I have never read any Sherlock Holmes... maybe one day..

I was, when visiting my nephews mountainhut. All peeing outside please, the rest inside in the new electric toalet.

Sofokles is very quick outside now, but if he spots some birds he can be there for hours. So he will survive it.

Maybe I am a strict mother

Richard!! How are you? I'm here and staying warm. Hope you had a lovely Christmas!

IaaS -8F yikes that is cold! Stay warm inside.

momom248 : I thought Lord Blackwood was Andy Garcia too!

Kath : You've not read any Sherlock Holmes yet? Heigh thee hence to your library or nearest bookstore and grab some Arthur Conan Doyle ... they're great reads. I grew up with them and love them dearly.

IaaS : don't you put little socks and a coat on Sofokles? Maybe if his feet and body are warm he won't mind going outside to pee. It's 8F now in Boston but thankfully the wicked wind that was just whipping yesterday has blown out of town. it was brutal yesterday!

Doyle will be on my someday list, I promise....

and

Hubby gave in, he got the cats litterbox up from the cellar and Sofokles is so grateful.

yay hubby!!!

*mmmrrrmmmf* Inger, go put that litterbox back in the cellar! It is unhealthy for cats to be pampered. They are Minions of Satan, do not forget.

It was positively balmy here today, 34F and still as a millpond. I was a little sweaty during the early dog-walk, since I bundled up. Second walk, just a coat and gloves, much more the thing.

Yay! I'm all for being kind to little Sofokles during the cruel winter months. He can go out to pee when it is warm out. No harm in showing a little compassion. (ahem....Richard.) :o)

xoxo

Thanks for the Sympatie. And no Richard, you are in fact wrong, we are from the Egyptians Gods
Hugs from Sofokles

Now that is a beautiful cat (and I am not a cat lover)! great pic Iaas

What a beauty he is, IaaS .... definitely deserving of the cat litter box being brought up from the cellar.

Happy New Year, everyone!

*choo*

Happy New Year !

Love your kitty - mine looks like that only redder, but almost as determined

Happy New Year all!

Happy New Year !

Beautiful cat. I had an orange cat in High School. His name was Tiger and he met me at the bus stop and walked me home every day.

Happy New Year everyone!~!

Hey St. Richard;
If it was really, really cold and my toilet was frozen, I wouldn't make you go outside to pee. I would let you use the litterpan. Hee hee!~!

porchie;
You are a naughty tease and my credit card did not appreciate you at all. Darling bag. (like Richard) :->

IaaS;
Lovely kitty. You don't often find them in that light orange sherbetie color. He/she is beautiful.

I am so glad to hear that the Sherlock Holmes movie is good. I, too, Richard, love all of Downey's work whether he is clean or not. I find him brilliant. I am looking forward to seeing it.
The entire family went to see Avatar the Sunday after Christmas, (3 generations of us), and it was beyond wonderful. I can't wait to see it again. All of us really got sucked in right from the beginning. (great popcorn too!~!)

Well, that is enough non-news stuffs.
Hope 2010 brings to all of you all you desire of it.
hugs,
belva

I'm glad to hear you liked Avatar, belva. I'm excited because we've finally got tickets to watch it on Sunday at the Imax .... we've been trying to get to it for a week now, but it's been sold out thus far.

In fact, finally after a few months of just merely meh or totally bleah movies, there's finally a few movies this holiday season that I want to watch.

Anyone managed to catch the blue moon last night? It was too cloudy out by my way. Although the sky was brightly lit by the moon, we couldn't actually see the moon. A friend of mine in CA had clear skies and a wonderful view of the glowing full moon.

Cameling--I think you are just going to love Avatar! I want to go see it again. Took the kids to see Squeakwell (Alvin and the Chipmunks) and dropped the lot of them and their friends off and went next door to a grownup film--yeah! Saw Have You Heard About the Morgans, which was cute but nothing great. What was great was sitting with my hubby!

Didn't see the moon--too cloudy. :(

Happy New Year All!

Knowing the full moon was there was enough for me. I liked the symbolism of starting a New Year on a rare event...next New Year's Eve one not due until 2028, when I shall be a mere stripling of 30 (counting backwards started a while back).

Hatin' on all y'all seeing these good movies. Nyah.

Yes -- stunning moon in a nearly cloudless sky here in CO. Happy New Year!

Iaas, I have to ask - what on earth is an electric toilet? I would fear electrocution each time!

I just posted my first review of the New Year, in post #57 on my 75-Books Challenge thread. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned is the lucky first up!

>71 cameling:: A cold, cloudless night last night here in Missouri with the blue moon casting its glow on the lake behind our house. Awesome. Had to go out on the deck and freeze my new year butt off to get the full effect. (Can I say that on LT?)

A belated Happy New Year to everyone! Had to go to a wedding yesterday. Seriously, who gets married on January the 1st? Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the blue moon. I happen to live in a city where the moon hides behind all those tall buildings.

75: emaestra
Electric toalet is for ececution, but not of you. It is used for places where they not are allowed to have waterclosets, like mountainhuts. If you want you can read about it here;

http://www.ecotech.no/images/stories/Dokumenter/Cinderella%20classic%20informati...

And about Sofokles, his mother was blue tortoishell and white and his father was bluecream. His fur has in some light a lilac shine.

Now I have to se the AVATAR.

No BLUE MOON out my way...too cloudy......i have heard great things about AVATAR..but will, sadly, have to wait till it comes out on DVD..the closest cineplex is 50 miles away.....and...not on my best day do i venture thuswards...it's gearing up for some serious COLD today.....thank god for firewood and BOOKS!!!

take care, all..
;-}

I thought the blue moon was the second one in the month so that would mean you don't get to see that until the end of January???

You're right, koalamom, the blue moon occurs when you get a 2nd full moon in the same month. Last year (2009...doesn't it feel odd to call it last year already?) the first full moon in December was on Dec 2, and the 2nd full moon rose on Dec 31. According to what I read, we're not going to get another blue moon occuring on New Year's Eve until 2028.

Ah, our weatherman said the full moon was Jan 1 here and thus the blue moon will be Jan 29 - thus my interpretation. Guess it depends on who you listen too!

I am so happy. I thought I missed the program on PBS of Louisa May Alcott. It is on right now ;-)

Iaas.....Sofekles is gorgeous. Too bad you aren't closer, we could set up a play date with my boys.

Here's a cute shot of when they were smaller. (they are brothers, we got them when they were 8 weeks old, now they are 5 1/2 yrs. old.) They are very close. Literally & figuratively. :o)

gorgeous!!!!!!!!!

I had brothers too, Julie....They lived for 20 years for me. They passed within months of each other..

I hope you have many more years with these beautiful boys!

#84/86..Porchsitter,
Thanks for sharing the photos of your cats.
My current two cats are brother/sister grey tabbies. They are also very loving toward each other & toward me. They have very mellow & relaxed personalities, too.

#84..Cindysprocket,
I really enjoyed the recent PBS persentation about the life of Louisa M. Alcott. Very interesting. I knew about some of her history, but this brought out many new details.

Catgwinn.. I really enjoyed the series. It made me pull out my real old copy of Hospital Sketches. There was a Merry Christmas inscription dated 1922. So it is at least that old. Fell asleeo reading it last night. She was just able to get a free pass to Washington DC. on the train.

Cat, I read a really good bio of Alcott :

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women

Those are gorgeous cats! The look healthy and soooo contented.

By the way, I just saw Avatar in 3D and in an IMAX theater and it's amazing, beautiful, creative, imaginative and just fantastical. The wonderful art that went into the movie does not detract from its not so subtle message about taking care of our planet, if anything, I think it really enhanced it. I love this movie, intend to see it again (although probably not IMAX again because it's expensive and you have to stand in line for almost an hour if you want to ensure you get a good seat and aren't somewhere at the bottom where you'll suffer nausea and a crooked neck). Definitely a keeper this one, and I'll be very shocked if it doesn't win a whole boatload of awards

*waaaCHOOOOOO*

*drips snot on his speedy exit from thread*

Oh Richard, that seems to be more psycical than physical. Bless you.
86: porchsitter55 . Very nice cats. It is the best for cats to grow up with other cats, to have someone to talk with and play with.

they are so cute - I kind of wished we'd gotten two when we got Aslan, but he's one of those cats that needs to be a loner - maybe next time - though that will be a while (I hope) as he is only 4

When I was considering getting a cat, I decided that if I could manage to grab another one besides the first one I chose, (they were running around in a lady's garage) then I would go ahead and take two. I managed to snag a second one, so drove away with two. Little did I know how close a bond would be between these two boys. They adore one another. Even though they have minor tussles, which I know they are just playing, they are so very close. When one meows, the other one comes running to make sure the other is okay. Now we are one big, happy family of four. :o)

#92.....cameling......they really are content. That's because they get whatever they want and are spoiled rotten. lol We have 3 cat trees in our dining room alone. Two in the living room. One in my inventory room. So many toys, you'd think we run a day-care center. Several varieties of food & treats. Two cozy beds lined with terry cloth towels. Yep.......they're content all right. LOL (But how can you look into those faces and not buy them the whole cat section of Petsmart??)

This makes my heart ache because I am a dog person. My husband is allergic to cats. I would love those two to hug and love. Thanks for sharing!

but dogs are good too..... I am fortunate to have both :)

I am a believer in having no less than two of a pet....lol
That philosophy got me in trouble when I got my kids a bunny....
I only have one dog, but he has the cats for company. I would never
just have a single dog. If I hadn't had the cats, I would indeed have 2 dogs..
almost did anyway, but ...

I love how this tread always manages to get back to cats - even if some of us can't handle them - sorry richard

cats and books seem to go together somehow

cats and books seem to go together somehow

Yeah. Like napalm and jungles.

> richard

*hah hah hah* in a menacing tone....~~~~~

now..let's talk weather..like serious blizzardy...like, *i made it to the store today and stocked up for a month*..jeesh, i'm ready to dig a hole and hibernate..enough of this Winter already...

;-}

Oh, so now isn't the perfect moment to bring up the clear, cloudless cerulean skies and the 35F temps I'm enjoying? Oh. Okay. Consider it not brought up.

It's 22 here and my daughter, who just got back to Georgia is feeling a balmy 37! It's been flaking all day, but no accumulation.

I have been cold at home for .. well, a really long time...
It's Irish night @ Kelly's Saloon . It's really cold. Don't think I have the intestinal fortitude to go out....

> no Richard..don't even mention blue skies....35 degrees? put on your bathing suit 'cause you're "havin' a HEAT WAVE (props to Martha & the Vandellas)"...grrrrrr & brrrrrr.........but i'll forgive you..this time

to everybody else..i'm seriously considering Hibernation as a Winter Lifestyle....but wish all of you the Bestest

J

On the bright side, Jude, hibernation means more time to read. I wouldn't mind a few blizzards so that I didn't have to go in to work. It's been crazy and it's only my 2nd day back at work after a week off. *sigh* I only managed to read 18 pages last night before I fell asleep. Tonight doesn't look good either because I've got 2 conference calls tonight. :-( I need a holiday..... oh wait, I just had one. bah! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ..... here in MA

I reviewed a first novel for the 75-Books Challenge group's "Take It Or Leave It" Challenge (first month, first novel), called Shooting An Albatross. It's in my thread, post ...#147.

Cold winter. Brrrrr.
Here it is 3F outside and not more than 68F inside, and if the current fails we will really freeze. Ok, we should have repaired the shimney this summer, but we somehow forgot about that.
Where mother lives, 5 minutes from here with car, it was -18F this morning, and 59F inside. She is busy making a fire,so it is soon warm there.
The whole northern hemisphere is freezing, maybee the theory of a new iceage where correct after all ?

I'm disappointed - we were supposed to get 1/2" of snow last night - anticipated having school delayed, daughter and I sleeping in (husband is out of town), but NO! It had to be too warm for snow, just a bit of rain so here I am at work. On time. Disgusting.

20 here (NEPA) and snowing - on a school delay, though why I worry about this I don't know as my youngest is 28 and in Georgia where they might have had a snow day today but she didn't care there either as she doesn't teach on Fridays! They closed the state of Alabama, I hear (I used to live there). My house, in parts, is warm and other parts are freezing - hard to dress going from room to room let alone from inside to outside (that I can handle!).

It snowed on Long Island last night, but just enough to look like God had dandruff. Disappointing. I don't mind the comparatively warm 30F temps, though!

We had an ice dam the other day on our roof and had to rush around putting buckets and pans under the dripping spots in the ceiling. After the weekend long snow blast, we forgot to rake our roof. *sigh* I hate house maintenance. I wonder if someone can come along and invent gutter and roof heaters. We did manage to rake most of the snow off the roof after that and the dripping finally stopped. But we've got to get a roofer in, I think .. just to be sure.

I've gone slightly crazy. I decided to organize our over 1500 books and note on Library Thing what room they're in. I found all 284 of my husband's psychoanalysis books and put them onto 8 shelves. That's as far as I got in 7 hours time.

Just talk to my Mom, she lives in Garland,Tx. It is 13 degrees. Says she is freezing. She is originally from Indiana, she has been in Texas too long.

My latest review is up...The Devil's Company by David Liss, in my 75-Books Challenge thread's post #177.

As always, Liss uses the backdrop of business skulduggery to bring us his tale of wrongdoing and wrongdoers punished. It's a trope I like in an author!

cameling - I understand about ice dams around the house - had one in my window one year and we had to leave the inside window open to let the ice melt from the heat of the room - it was as cold as this outside - not fun - cat couldn't figure it out, though

good reviews rdear

cameling... yikes!

I talked to a young lade from Sprint yesterday.. she was in Texas .. and she was very cold indeed. lol

Very little snow last night here (thank heavens). It is in the 20s and warm considering the lows we had earlier in December. The sun is out and the roads are clear. I will say though that its a bummer having to work a whole week. I really wish we had holidays every week.

Cameling, I think there is something you can put on the roof to prevent ice build up. They were talking about it at work. I thinks its very expensive though, so we didn't put it up.

Cameling. Yes, insulation, at least 12" thick. Then the snow on top will not melt of the heat inside. I do not really understand your roof-trouble. Do you have a totallly flat roof, with no insulation and hole in it ? Is the buckets inside ?

Today we have celebrated mothers 94 years birthday. We made a brunch in her home with 20 of the nearest family. Every family brought food and we had a nice time.
She had of course help of me and hubby, but she had baked all the bread and did the house-cleaning herself.
I am so fortunate to have a very healhty mom.

#119: FicusFan - Was it an ice shield? That's what our roofer recommended. It goes under the shingles and prevents water from dripping into the house when the snow on the roof melts. I don't know how much it costs though .. my husband forgot to ask him. I certainly hope it's not expensive.

IaaS : We have a pitched roof and there is no hole in it yet!(fingers crossed that one does not develop). What happened was that there was alot of snow on the roof, we didn't rake it, and the gutters had all frozen. So when the snow started to melt on some parts of the roof, there was an ice dam because of the ice and other packs of ice and so the run off had nowhere to go, and was forced under the shingles.
Perhaps this roof shield my roofer recommended is sort of like insulation for the roof.

Congratulations on your mother's 94th! It's impressive that at her age she's baking all the bread and cleaning the house by herself. How wonderful that she's healthy and enjoying life. I am very thankful too that my mother is healthy and very self-sufficient because I have less to worry about. Actually maybe I should worry more...she sometimes does things which aren't so sensible just because she can

# 121 Cameling, I am not sure. I will ask on Monday. It was some kind of tape or roll and it was made out of stuff that prevents build up somehow. I think, but could be completely wrong; roofing is not an interest of mine, so I was only half listening. Will report back on Monday.

Until this stupid ice dam happened, I paid no attention to roofs either. They were just the hat for the house so we didn't get wet when it rained. ;-)

It is possible to get cables for warming the gutters. Maybe that will be the cheapest.

Maybe we need to make a trip to Home Depot and check this out. Interesting concept, cables for gutters.

We have special water buckets for the horses for winter - they have a heating element in them to prevent the water freezing and plug into outlets outside the stalls.

We've had very cold weather for us too lately here in central North Carolina, just no snow or ice. I'm glad, I think, because it's been a very busy time what with Band Concers, bookclub meetings, and this week is finals week for my daughter. It can snow next week if it wants.

I just did something I haven't done in months here on LT - I went through the recommendations section. I actually added about 20 titles that I have read and hadn't added before. Some of them are hard to get to - or were until I learned to type in the title then two spaces and the author's last name - this either brings what you want right up or shortens the list considerably - works between the brackets too.

That recommendations section is really dangerous! I try not to check that tab too often because i keep adding too many books .... and that's on top of the ones I add after reading some of these threads. But having said that, I have received some interesting recommendations which I've really enjoyed too.

Oh, that Recommendations Section is Dangerous!!! and, it's funny, i have had titles recommended, for books i already own, that are pretty obscure (not necessarily Mainstream)...makes me glad i found this here LT place..and friends like you folks.

I don't have any ice dams from my roof...just serious icicles...and my gutters are chock full of ice. I was trying to knock some of the more serious culprits down, from the upstairs bathroom window, yesterday..and nearly fell...trying to stretch too far with the long-handled broom. FIE, i said..a broken neck i don't need and if the spouting comes loose my boyfriend and I can fix it when the weather improves...but the effort was good for a laugh. Just another example of life's absurdities...

now, i am going back to the other room and a warm fire.........
;-}

>129 jdthloue:/130 I suppose I shouldn't mention that it's a cloudless 37F here, nary a wisp of snow or ice, pleasant breeze...

>No, Richard...don't mention it...but wait, you just did...Sneaky One, you!
'-)

Sneaky. And cruel. Thass me!

I got a lot of musicbooks from my brother today. His musicbooks and a lot of other books are given a sanctuary in our home. His wife has forced him to throw it out and he was a bit unhappy. She likes him to clean up what he has noe space for, poor guy. Now his banished books and musicbooks can rest here. We will make space for it. Hubby think he should just have put his foot down, but he do not dare. She is nice, but hates clutter. I do not mind.

She is nice, but hates clutter

But Inger! Books are never, ever "clutter"! They are furniture, they are friends, and they are worth a lot more that some neat-freak.

Oops. My little hostile outburst will kindly be excused?

Makes me appreciate my husband. I was sitting in the sunroom yesterday, just gazing around at my books. Husband said "Guess I'll have to build you some more shelves." I said, "What I should probably do is get rid of a hundred or so to make more room." Husband replied, "No you shouldn't."

Definitely a keeper, except for the snoring. :)

>136 karenmarie: Does he have a brother? Orientation not an issue, I've handled that problem before.

IaaS : How does one equate books with clutter? What if your brother puts his books in a box under tables or in the basement? Or on the shelves? Would that be ok? I'm sorry your brother has to find a foster home for his books.

Some has seen to much "Clean Sweep", they are really cruel with books.
Ok, brother's shelves is full and he has no more room for bookbokses either. I do not at any moment think books are clutter, it wasn't me.
His wife maybe need some space for her things, because his things fill up all available storeroms. I will take good care of my fosterbooks, read them and play (musicbooks) them and register them. And store them nicely.

Good husbands make shelves, mine does.

A house without books is a house without character.

I bet your brother thinks he has a pretty swell sister, IaaS.

I agree a house w/o books is a very empty house!! They are so much a part of mine!

Richard, you are incorrigible .

Richard, my husband is an only child. But if he had a brother, I'd introduce you! I think you'd be a wonderful brother-in-law.

I have books I keep and books that get donated - I think it's also nice to spread the "love" around.

Based on the name of this thread, I bought a CD of Take Five (I have it on LP, if you can believe it, but haven't listened in years).

I played Blue Rhondo a la Turk and Take Five for my daughter on the way in to school this morning. She's in the jazz ensemble (this is her 3rd year and she's first trombone) and she liked them a lot. Even said she wanted them for her iPod!

>karenmarie....you go, girl!

i, too own TAKE FIVE on LP...but have no working turntable....and my last CD copy..seems to have "left the building".....so glad you are "spreading the word" to your daughter..there can never be too many Jazzbos in this world..*amen* she said

;-)

For some strange reason, we have two turntables here. Thousands (no exaggeration) of LPs. And not ONE speaker. We have 2 Boses, but the connectors won't fit. And we've got one of those spiffy turn-your-LPs-into-CDs (or MP3s) thingumabobs, too.

I sense a project.

Regarding Brubeck's Time Out, 2009 was the 50th anniversary of the album's original release, and Columbia released an anniversary 2-CD set including the original tracks remastered plus a full concert CD. Very much worth having.

Someone mentioned Time Further Out (1961). There is also the very fine Countdown: Time in Outer Space (1962). Countdown is, sadly, out of print for some reason.

.........and here's the man.........rocketjk......!!

maybe it's time for me to Step Out.....and buy the CD again..and put it under Lock & Key.......thanks for the Heads-Up on the Anniversary CD.......

>Richard..i have an extra set of Speakers.......Harmon-Kardon, i believe......no LP-to-CD-MP3-thingie poop, though *boo-hoo???*
J

I have "Take Five" on several media and, fortunately, can still play them all. My daughter's favorite saying for things like this is "It was on the Muppet Show" which it was played by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. I think everything and everybody back in the 70s ended up on the Muppet Show.

#150> koalamom, Once, during my days as a public radio producer in New Orleans (this was in the 1980s), I got to interview the wonderful English jazz singer, Cleo Laine. Towards the end of the interview, I said, "Since you are the first person I've ever interviewed who's been a guest host on the Muppet Snow, I've got to ask you what that was like." She laughed and said, "Oh, it was fun! The funny thing is that even during the breaks between shooting, the puppeteers never talk to you directly. Only the puppets talk to you. That's their way of helping you think of the puppets as real 'people.' It makes the on-screen interactions better." I thought that was a pretty cool insight into how that showed worked.

Finished and reviewed the extraordinarily good Beasts of No Nation in my Homeless Reviews thread. Please, Adichie readers, please seek this book out!

I loved the Muppets and miss that show. I'd have loved to have been able to meet them and talk to them. Cleo Laine sounds familiar .. i had to google her to see if I'd heard her music before ... yes, I have.

Time out & Time Further Out, by Dave Brubeck now lives in my house. I can try out Blue Rondo à la Turk.
One of my "foster" musicbooks from brother.

I've just posted my review of the first Inspector Gamache mystery, "Still Life" (touchstone balky), in my "Homeless Reviews" thread in Club Read 2010 ... post #5.

No short version, go read the review then the book.

My next-to-last debut novel read for the January TIOLI challenge, Time Travelers Are Schizophrenic, is reviewed in my 75-Books challenge thread...#29.

Plenty, plenty flawed, but fun to read nonetheless.

My son plays baritone sax and a few months ago decided he wanted to play Take Five for the school talent show. Unfortunately he procrastinated, as 13 year olds frequently do, and decided he couldn't learn it in four days (ya think?). He went with the old standby the Pink Panther.

It was a bit silent here.


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

157: emaestra. He is so young, with practise he will get there, It's not so easy for most of us to learn a new melody so good as to perform it in a hurry. Brother just take it there and then, he is just born to play the piano.

Whaat- noooo.

I don't know what a WAYRN is. Its hard to care about what you don't understand. Complete sentences would be a good start.

I think WAYRN must be What Are You Reading Now. The rest... I'm not sure. Is everything okay?

Love the picture, IaaS.

quiet on the home front today with lots of football and not much reading except for the Sunday papers and magazine.

sorry... I didn't know either :P

I will say no more today!

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"Roger" has finished and reviewed Keeper of Secrets... Translations of an Incident from the Member Giveaways. It's in my Homeless Reviews thread in post #32.

I just reviewed A Fatal Grace over in my BotS thread...#69.

Louise Penny is *fabOO* and mckait is a goddess for sending me these! *genuflexion*

Too much to read, to much to wish for. I have made me a list with help of SERIES of books that I have missed in book-series I own. Help, too much. Most of them I will not buy, the library next.

Theese days I have discovered ROBIN HOBB,s world and I loved her books. The first I read was Tawny Man Trilogy.

I love the picture, IaaS.

I'm starting to drown in book-series .. I keep adding them to my wishlist, or my TBR, and I wonder if I'm ever going to get to finish some of them.

IaaS.....love the picture!!! Funny! (poor Roger) LOL

Yes, isn't he nice, must wonder what he is thinking about.

And everybody has gone with the bear to hibernation.

"........what is he thinking about?"

given, where he is sitting, he's probably wondering WHAT'S FOR LUNCH???....and WHERE'S THE WAITRESS??

;-}

or He ate the waitress. and he has indigestion.

I think he's just waiting patiently for the burgers to be done.

Nope. He wants the blackberry pie a la mode.

Or blueberry with cream, the waitress don't dare to help him, poor guy.

I have got my new book Vargbroder, Royal Assassin, Robin Hobb, from a private seller in Sweden today. I'm so happy about it, it was only 2 books for sale in the whole country, it was out of order.

IaaS, do you read English language books? I would be glad to send you things you can't get in Norway or Sweden, if that would help.

Let me know!

Oh yes Richard, I read a lot of English language. Tolkien I would not try in Norwegian because it will ruin the experience. Alexander McCall Smith In Norwegian, no no. I read him in in his original language and sometimes I hear Scottish in my head.
I hear english every day on television, but I am no good speaker myself, I go stum. Fist time I was in England people in London asked if I was Scottish, according to the rrrrrrrrr mayebe.
If I want books in english I can't get here I will ask you. Thanks.

Excellent! And you might not be a good speaker, but you're a good typer of English.

Thanks. Typing is not the difficult thing, it's finding the right words to say what I had intented to say, and so the grammar.

You do very, very well at it, Inger, and it's quite impressive. English is a damned hard language to learn.

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Nice to hear. The secret is to read and read, and to try writing, I guess. Just like any kid has to do.

Great picture! The look on the cat's face is priceless.

Throw that cat a mouse.

Robert

This weekend is the great birdcounting event. Everybody who gives food for birds in the winter is asked to count them.
So far today; 9 different sorts, at least 30 individs
Some of them is difficult to count because they don't sitt still for two seconds, but I will keep on counting today.

The birdcounting for sunday 31 of january ended up with 45 individs of 11 species. The birdcounting was for all Scandinavien, not just Norway. Anywhere else that does birdcounting ?

Hmm.... I counted only 4 kinds of birds in my back yard. Maybe the others don't like the seeds I put out for them ... or the squirrels scare them away. I had a family of hawks in one of my trees last Spring. I hope they don't come back this year because they started eating the chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits and I'm certain the possum that used to come visiting my back yard.

Cornell University sponsors bird counts. As I remember it, you count the number of birds around your feeder twice every Tuesday for the winter. A different approach but the same idea.

What are "birds?"

I just put up a review! First one in AGES! It's of Dangerously Funny, which book is aimed at them as remembers the Smothers Brothers, of which I am one. It's in my 75-Books Challenge thread...#173.

I saw the site for birds at Cornell U. Interesting to look at the birds so different from ours.

Only 4 birds, maybee the hawk is still there ?

Richard, birds are avian dinosaurs. You can read articles at Berkeley.edu. about it. I tried to make a link, but no links worked today.
Never heard about Smother Brothers over here.

There's a great book called The Big Year - A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik about trying to complete to "count" the most birds for 1998. It was a fantastic read, fun and informative.

We have quite a few different birds in our yard - finches, chickadees, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, jays, mourning doves, cardinals, bunting, etc. We also see blue herons, hawks, crows, turkey vultures, etc., and hear owls occasionally. Our neighbor has probably 50-70 different kinds of birds in her yard, and she's only 300 feet away. I must have them too, just don't recognize them. Or spend enough time outside watching them.

"Birds"! Imagine that. Places where "birds" live! :-P

I'm missing something here...

The birdcounting is an environment(al) study to see if the birds population is stabil or decreasing. All the factors like polution situation, illnessis, the climate the foodsources will have its impact on this. We were asked to count the birds we feed one weekend, and now they are making statistics over it.

Richard; If you want living birds outside your window you have to give them food in the winter, then they will come to you. They can smell it, they will be roumor-mongers, more will come, and more...... kraaaa.

Want birds, Inger? Are there people who actually want birds? How...vivid.

Forget birds, I want to brain that #$%&*## Ground Hog !. He sees his shadow every year ! I want spring, I am sick of the cold.

So it will be six more cold winterweeks then.
I am mean, and I gloat over the wintercold. And the latest news, the Himalayan glaciers are not melting as we have been told.
Birds Richard ? Has bird an other meaning too ?
Norwegian men call some beautiful women "RYPE"; Lagopus lagopus, and that is a woodfowl I say no more.

#200 IaaS - that's what I mean - your comment "Birds Richard? Has bird an other meaning too ?" I feel like I'm missing something.

#199 FicusFan - I think you'd prefer Sir Walter Wally - the groundhog at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences didn't see his shadow and predicted an early spring. He's got a pretty good record, over 50%. However, I'm sceptical this year - we've still got snow on the ground and this is the 3rd day the kids are out of school. So far this winter's been worse than the last 4 or 5.

Our winter has been much more mild than usual. You can't tell me something freaky isn't going on! I live in the Southern Tier of New York.

Check out my son Schmiel Diamond :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBlISCkiu5c&feature=player_embedded#

(My second son Craig..)

Yeah - I'm just south of you in NEPA and have been saying how "nice" it has been - a bit cold, but very little snow. My husband has only used the snowblower once and could have shoveled what snow was there just as well.

203- he really engaged his audience. Not bad at singing either.

Her in Norway and Northern Europe is the coldest, and the longest cold for 110 years, but Svalbard is not as cold as usual because of The North Atlantic Oscilation. We have a lot of snow, also on the west coast where snow is rare.
It has been snow so far south as the coast of Turkey. And the cold is coming from Siberia. The climatologs tells we may get these winters for several years to come.
I saw on television frozen oranges from Florida.
Vancouver OL without snow ? Hope not!

I've just reviewed a truly marvelous book, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, vol. 1: The Pox Party, by M.T. Anderson in my Homeless Reviews thread... post #51...and I can't urge you enough to get and read it if you haven't already.

LTer mikeepatrick becomes the god of my heathen idolatry for raving about this book so hard that I was compelled to read it. It's a four-and-a-half star read, and deserves its awards! (National Book Award, Printz Award)

mckait, I am a big Neil Diamond fan. I really enjoyed your sons singing ;-)

didn't get much reading done yesterday - it started out as a day with nothing else that needed to be done and things just kept coming up that had to be done that by the time they got done it was time to start dinner - Russian Beef Stroganoff - twas different than the one my mother made and very good too - even the kid went back for seconds

Appropos of very little . . . . (other than my current reading of Antony Beevor's The Battle for Spain about the Spanish Civil War)

Great moments in reading long books:

When I am reading a long book, say 700 pages or more, I always very much appreciate that moment I realize I have made enough progress that I can finally see some daylight between the book's front cover and my bookmark.

I am reading Haunting Beauty and The Elusive Bride and because of Haunting Beauty I have not read as many pages this week as I usually do. Haunting Beauty is a paranormal that requires concentration on the family tree big time and that always slows me down. The Elusive Bride has picked up steam, but right now the books are neck and neck. I am just mad that I am not reading at my usual speed.

thank you cindy... it was meant as comedy... and i laughed and watched and laughed more. It looked like so much fun. I think he has been asked back.....

My kids crak me up :)

I wish I had a bird book with me ... I'm seeing some beautiful singing birds here in Singapore and don't know what they are. Or rather, I think I see them since they're hiding in the trees, but they sure sing loud.

Oh my gosh, more than 70 cm snow predicted in Washington over the night. Chaos.

Cameling; Birdbook is a nice souvernir.

mckait; No wonder your son has been asked back, the public had the best time.

scarpettajunkie; do you have a competition with yourself abour reading speed ?

rocketjk; It is a bit tiresome and fun with books so long as 700 pages, it is impossible to do anything else.

koalamom; very strange, the days fly away faster and faster and suddenly a week has gone. What about the recipe?

Richard; I read your review, has this happened or is it just a novel?

>213 IaaS: Inger, it's just a novel, thank Goodness! I would be horrfied to learn it's based on an actual event, though there were less awful but equally racist things done in the name of science at that (and later, sadly) times.

I don't think there is even a centimeter of snow here! It's so odd, to see so much snow so far south! *heeheehee*

Hey! If you are a jazz fan and a Facebook member, you can now become a "fan" of my weekly radio show, the Jazz Odyssey. The show can be heard every Monday from 2 to 4 PM Pacific time (U.S.) on the world wide interdoodle at www.kzyx.org and select "Listen Now."

Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Jazz-Odyssey-on-KZYXZ-FM/286149694853?ref=ts

p.s. If this sort of announcement is not considered kosher on LT, just let me know and I will delete the post.

Cheers all!

Let me use the link first, please

Whatever you do...do it here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/84245&newpost=1#lastmsg

it's time for a new thread...........

I see nothing wrong. I will become a fan !

bef stroganov from the Time-Life Cookbook series from 1977.

combine 1 tablespoon dry mustard, 1 1/2 tsps sugar and a pinch salt and enough hot water to make a paste - set aside for at least 15 minutes

saute 4 cups thinly sliced onion rings and 1 pound sliced, fresh mushrooms in a pan for 20-30 minutes till soft.

saute 2 pounds beef cut into slices about a 1/4 inch wide

combine meat and vegetables, add the mustard paste and a 1/2 tsp of sugar, salt and pepper to taste then add in a pint of sour cream by tablespoon (I did it in three increments) - cover pan and simmer for 2-3 minutes until sauce is heated through

got about a foot of snow yesterday and overnight and it is still coming down

the recycling box we put out for collection yesterday is buried somewhere - they never got here to pick it up

will probably head out later (as the snow is suppose to end by noon or so) and shovel and maybe find the box

The last few storms, all we got was rain instead of snow. It just poured here for the last 2-3 days. Water is coming up to the road in a lot of places in the town where I work.

The wind was horrendous last night. I thought the house was going to go sailing. There are branches and pine and crap all over the place this morning.

Seems calm today, but the clouds are still gray and the sun isn't really showing. Hopefully not more rain (though I don't want snow either).

They predicted high winds for us.. but, it didn't happen.
Snow..

ye gods snow..
sigh

must go and find some dinner before I lose control and have Girl Scout cookies..

Well I am fine at home and at work, but over 300,000 in the state lost power. The Governor declared a state of emergency. We are supposed to get more rain/snow on an off until Tuesday I think it said.

ficus! Have I lost your current thread? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages !

Hi McKait. I have been reading (slogging) and playing with my computers. I got a new-to-me Netbook, and then set-up a wireless router so I could use it and my Ipod in the house.

Spent a lot of time getting my Microsoft Office and Access DB onto my netbook (legally).

My book is not bad, but wordy. I think I am going to have to put it down :(. I am only a little over half way and I have been at it for over a week.

I have also been lazy and not been posting to my 2010 thread. I need to catch up. Hopefully this weekend.

Thanks for asking.

Glad to see you... link me to your thread?

This is the newest tread
http://www.librarything.com/topic/84245

Has been snowing here, in Norway, some days now and it has been the coldest winter in the west for more than hundred years. Soon out of water (frozen) for making power. Some places in Norway the price of the electric power has been up to 1.86 USD for kw/h. A lot of people will get huge powerbills.

Give us the spring soon, please.

> 226 mckait,

Here you go, my poor neglected thread. I hope to get working on it again this weekend.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/79436