Odds and Ends

Posting has been slowing down recently, and since this pace, or lack of same, will likely continue for much of the next week, I'll try to put a little something together. At times like this, I sometimes just make a list, but I never know what I'll include when I begin. 😀 So, here we go.

• The weather has mostly been cloudier, rainier and cooler than is the summer standard, but it has been more summery than previously for the past two weeks or so. However, right now, I am thinking of switching from shorts to light track pants as the breezes float in through the open windows.
  
• That doesn't mean that it's cold exactly, but due to nerve damage in my back, I have sensitive, cold spots on my lower legs, which feel better when wind is not blowing directly on them. Weird, I know; I am nothing if not weird.
  
• We are getting ready for some company next week. The forecast seems positive at present. We are also due to care for our own grands, so it should be a full week.
  
• We have been doing some cat-sitting for the past week. Shauna was called away for a week-long conference, so we've been dropping by for an hour or so to feed and cuddle the kitties. Sid, especially, likes to snuggle and be petted.
  
• Speaking of cats, Bella is still with us and halfway into her fifth month. I was going to write a four-month report but didn't get around to it. maybe I'll manage for the end of the fifth month. Basically, I am a little worried about her health these days.
  
• I am going to pre-cook bacon this weekend. With company coming, we may do a big breakfast/brunch one day, and I find it easier to have the bacon pre-cooked. It nukes easily and well, and we can concentrate on getting other dishes such as eggs, pancakes, or french toast ready.
  
• Speaking of weird, once again, I shaved around midnight the other night. Yup! I shaved to go to bed. Being bearded but trimly bearded, I generally shave every second day. This is mostly to get if off my neck where it gets very scratchy. The scratchiness was driving me crazy when I was reading, so I got up, shaved, and read a bit more before trundling off to me repose.
  
• I have been reading a fair bit lately, mainly Ann Cleeves: not Anne of Cleves, I hasten to add. She has a few mystery series: Vera, set in Northumbria, and Shetland, set in um ... Shetland, the Scottish islands to the north of the mainland. I am quite enjoying both series, which have also been adapted for TV. They're on Netflix, I think (or maybe we saw them on Acorn) and are both worth watching if you haven't chanced upon them yet.
  
• Having watched the series, I hadn't realized that they had been adapted from novels by Cleeves. But when a favourite author, Louise Penny, recommended her on Facebook wall, I was keen to look them up and was delighted to find that our town library carries them.
  
• And speaking of Louise Penny, her newest novel comes out shortly. Sue will get the audio version, and I'll probably read it that way.  I can get into audible versions although, in general, I prefer to read books tin the time-honoured way.
  
• Last point: we needed to check out something at the textile museum in Almonte this past week and saw this gigantic quilt that was made my ladies from all across the country for Canada's 125th anniversary. Now, 25 years later it is being shown for our 150th anniversary. Each square comes with a story, and there is an accompanying book also on display.

I took the first shot through the doorway to try to capture a sense of the scale.

The next two shots are closer, in order to see the detail a bit better.