Here’s her 9.5 week photo. She’s 10 weeks old already and making great progress. Much too smart…figuring out how to game the system at an early age.
She sleeps at my feet while I work and next to Scout other times. The blanket I folded and put down for her to sleep on under the table has become an unexpected indicator of her growth. I’m going to have to unfold it soon as she’s outgrowing the edges already.
I could fill this post with photos, but I won’t – here are her latest ones with a Santa hat, sleeping, and playing.
Today she and Scout went outside and stayed for quite a while. Trixie followed Scout around like a little mini-me and Scout tried not to look annoyed. I could barely get her to come in. They are doing pretty well together:
This weekend I’m going to put together a post of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner recipes, plus links to holiday sweets. If there is something specific you’d like to see, put it in the comments and I’ll do my best to add it.
This is… an open thread
Baud
Just what we needed.
Steeplejack (phone)
She gonna grow into those paws! ?
Alison Rose
cutie pupper!
where do I get me one of them giant stuffed pandas?
raven
Big goofus! I love it!
raven
Here’s some news for us. The rental house has new floors and we are getting close to being finished. This is the bedroom, the contractor and my bride had the great idea that she could clean up the sooty bricks in the old fireplace. After a couple of hours she realized it was a fools errand and we’re going to cover it with beadboard. The really cool thing is that we did a virtual tour with an artist who lives in LA but wants a “long term” contract for a place here so he can visit relatives and chill a few months of the year!!!!! We were tickled pink that he signed a lease!
SiubhanDuinne
I. Am. Melting.
Steeplejack (phone)
@raven:
Looks good! What are those floors?
C Stars
Those are adorable pups.
@raven: Congratulations!
Since it’s an open thread I have a question as a semi-lurker. I’m looking for a book present recommendation for a relative who is into American history and presidents, baseball, dogs…maybe apple pie? And it should go without saying he’s a Democrat. Last book I got him, which he liked, was Luke Eppelin’s “Our Team.” He’s also into political thrillers/mysteries. Recent releases would be good.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Man, that’s gorgeous. And great about your tenant. What a good way to be going into a new year!
In my own good news, I just learned that my brother came through his procedure (a second stent) in good shape, and for the first time in weeks he is testing negative for Covid. A good day.
Major Major Major Major
Pupper with a panda!!!
Open thread? With Omicron being, conservatively, ~12% of cases in the northeast recently, it should be the dominant strain in ~3-4 doubling units, so… 7-12 days. If not sooner–our sequencing is probably outdated.
Whee!
Glad me and my loved ones are boosted.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: Yay!
raven
@C Stars: I juts finished “Vietnam” by Max Hastings. Really good look at the war from all sides.
Middlelee
I need a fairly easy side dish recipe that is not green beans and that is fairly easy to transport. And I so appreciate any help with that.
NotMax
@raven
It’s super obvious, but just in case: if the hearth opening is to be covered, also cap off the chimney so varmints don’t have a way to set up housekeeping there.
brendancalling
I could use a puppy photo about now—the kid’s mom called and says she’s worried about him coming to the US for the holiday because Canada may shut the border again. He could get stuck here or we’d possibly be on the hook to quarantine him for two weeks in a hotel.
If that goes down, that’s my second holiday without my kid. As you may imagine, this has me stressed and angry.
TaMara (HFG)
@Alison Rose: ARC Thrift store… $8
TaMara (HFG)
@raven: That’s gorgeous.. and yay on renter!
NotMax
@Middlelee
Nobody (well, passing few) doesn’t like stuffed ‘shrooms. Ditto for mac ‘n’ cheese.
Glazed carrots also an easy fix which wows at the table.
;)
raven
@NotMax: Years ago when we replaced the roof.
TaMara (HFG)
@SiubhanDuinne: This is excellent news
@Middlelee: I will add that request to the post…
geg6
Such a winsome young thing, that Trixie. I just love her. Scout, too!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@C Stars: Chad Harding’s The Art of Fielding is a good book. 2011 release. The baseball team is college level
CaseyL
I think the giant stuffed panda would also be a good indicator of growth! ? Trixie and Scout make a wonderful not-quite-matched set. How is she with the ducks?
@raven: That’s a lovely bedroom. It’s a shame the fireplace is non-functional, because there’s something so decadent about falling asleep while watching a cozy fire. But the beadboard will provide a nice accent wall. What kind of art does your soon-to-be resident artist do?
C Stars
@raven:
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Thank you! I’m going to check those both out.
geg6
@C Stars:
I highly recommend the entire series of Rick Perlstein’s history of conservatism. I lived it and still learned quite a lot by reading his books.
TaMara (HFG)
@CaseyL: That was the purpose of the panda, the blanket was unexpected, LOL.
So…the ducks are bigger than her, even still, and that keeps her in check. I’ve had to remind her they are not playmates to play chase and tag with. So far, so good.
Sandia Blanca
@C Stars: Just take a look at this twitter thread from Kathleen Belew–she has customized recommendations: https://twitter.com/kathleen_belew/status/1471513972478291969
TaMara (HFG)
Has anyone read the Louise Penny/Hillary Clinton novel? I wondering if I should put it on my Christmas list.
UncleEbeneezer
Just made a reservation for a Moonlit Snowshoe tour for my wife’s B-day in January. Neither of us have ever done snowshoeing but the company provides gear and it looks pretty simple (I skied for years). The biggest challenge will be being out in the cold, but it’s only 90 minutes and ends with coffee/cocktail by a cozy fire (although not sure how that will work with Covid).
Also finalizing our plan for Christmas in Texas. We rented a cabin in Lake-Of-The-Pines and will take my elderly in-laws there for four days after Christmas, for their first real outing since Covid. We fly in to Dallas on Xmas Eve and will grab some Chinese take-out for dinner and then mostly do our own cooking at the cabin. Actually looking forward to the trip aside from the fact that it’s Texas and I will probably want to bludgeon every MAGAt I see. Got and started Cult Of Glory about the history of Texas Rangers (surprise! lots of racism and massacres).
As for tonight, just got back the store and I’m trying to combine a couple recipes for Taiwanese minced pork over noodles.
SiubhanDuinne
@geg6:
I love that word — it’s one of my favourites — and it is the perfect word to describe young Trixie.
NotMax
@TaMara (HFG)
The Incredible Shrinking Panda, by G. Dane.
;)
Leto
@raven: grats! Glad your reno is turning out well, and that you have a cool long term renter.
@C Stars: here’s a book that ticks off history, sports, and mystery/thriller: The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg
@SiubhanDuinne: grats! Glad your brother is on the mend and is testing negative for Covid. I’m sure that’s a big weight off your shoulders.
Kristine
@raven: Wow–the room looks great! Congrats on the cool tenant.
Major Major Major Major
@TaMara (HFG):
I would not have guessed!
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@C Stars: As far as American History goes…the Ron Chernow Biography of Ulysses S. Grant was, I thought, excellent. I read it years ago but remember really liking Empire Express by David Haward Bain – it’s about the building of the first trans-continental railroad. Also Junius and Albert’s Adventures in the Confederacy is a unique perspective on Civil war history as the two main characters were not combatants but war correspondents captured and held prisoner by the Confederacy until they escaped the POW camp they were being held in.
For a dose of Americana including Baseball, Michael Chabon’s Summerland is a fun book – it’s kind of written for kids or young adults but I enjoyed it as an actual adult. It’s about a kid who sucks at baseball but gets drawn into a land where many mythical American creatures from Sasquatch to Paul Bunyan etc. come to life and they end up playing a baseball game against some other team…I can’t recall the details of the other team or the stakes involved. If he’s into documentary film The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg is an excellent look at the career of Hammerin’ Hank.
germy
This episode is on my local PBS station tonight:
Forfeited, though? That can’t be right. Did they mean forged?
germy
NotMax
@germy
As we’re talking food, in one (very broad) sense the Dead Sea Scrolls could be considered Hebraic kimchi.
:)
Middlelee
@NotMax: I’ll look at recipes. TY
Middlelee
@TaMara (HFG): Thank you. Don’t normally do potlucks and am not much of a cook so I appreciate help.
Jim Appleton
@C Stars: Doesn’t quite tickle all the bells (none of them if I’m honest), but 2013’s The Boys In The Boat is a very great read. About the best book I’ve read in years.
ETA Trixie puts smile on face. Thank you!
raven
@CaseyL: He’s a painter and very successful. He did his undergrad here and MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design.
TaMara (HFG)
@UncleEbeneezer: I love snowshoeing. The only thing to watch out for – you think you’re just “walking” but really the exertion is pretty intense and you can get overheated/dehydrated easily.
Otherwise, enjoy the quiet and the view.
And now I want snowshoeing.
NotMax
@Middlelee
Chef John’s Bourbon Glazed Carrots.
TaMara (HFG)
@NotMax: I snorted…
@Leto: I’m checking out that book, it sounds like it hits all my interests.
Leto
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: have you read Chabon’s Moonglow? That was a really good book.
opiejeanne
@raven: That is a beautiful room, the floors look great, and I love the color.
WereBear
Total squees!
Leto
@TaMara (HFG): awesome; I’d also check out my rec at 46. There’s some nice twists to it that I don’t want to spoil, but I really enjoyed it.
Also, your pups are way too cute!
Jim Appleton
@NotMax: “Hebraic kimchee.” You first. F’ing Hawaiians and their fusion shit …
Betty
So happy to see Scout and Trixie getting along. Looks like some happy days ahead!
opiejeanne
Tamara, your pups are a delight.
Middlelee
@NotMax: Well that was fun!
UncleEbeneezer
@TaMara (HFG): I bet! Anything in the snow usually exerts way more effort than it appears. So I imagine we will be pretty exhausted afterwards. But after 2 years of being mostly indoors we figured it would be worth it to do something outdoors.
HeleninEire
@TaMara (HFG): No I haven’t. I was going to but I just finished the latest in the Gamache series. It was very good (all the books in that series are excellent) but it was very, very dark. So I think I’ll take a wait and see attitude with the Hillary book.
And speaking of that…I bought Hillary’s memoir about the election when it came out. But is still sitting unopened on my Kindle. I still don’t have the stomach to put myself through that again.
NotMax
@C Stars
Grazes some of the topics, Sesqui! Greed, Graft, and the Forgotten World’s Fair of 1926 by Thomas Keels.
Excerpts from the introduction.
NotMax
@NotMax
Apologies for the funky formatting.
opiejeanne
@TaMara (HFG): I read the Louise Penny/Hillary Clinton book and enjoyed it. There are moments where you can see Penny’s hand but they’re not intrusive. The book is the two of them, represented by two “middle-aged women”, saving Democracy, saving America, at break-neck speed.
The book doesn’t name TFG but there are some bits in the book that excoriate him and his administration, and I laughed out loud and read some of them to mr opiejeanne, but it doesn’t dwell on TFG.
It was a fun read.
The Dangerman
@C Stars: “Wait Till Next Year” by Doris Kearns Goodwin might be a fine fit.
There are a couple quick reads I’ll also toss in but I don’t have the titles handy. One was authored by the Guy that played the Father on Field of Dreams. Lovely book that will bring tears. Which reminded me of a book that was done by a writer from Cheers that announced for the Mariners for a while. Laughed until tears. I’d Google but in a rush right now.
Cameron
@C Stars: If you can find a copy of Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas, he might like it. It’s a very strange history book that’s kind of all over the place in late 19th and early 20th century America. Blew my mind when I read it many years ago.
opiejeanne
@C Stars: I have a very beautifully illustrated book, “We Are the Ship: The Story of the Negro League”, by Kadir Nelson.
It’s listed as a book for kids, but I bought it as an adult and don’t see it as a book for kids, just one that is accessible to kids.
The Dangerman
@The Dangerman: “It’s Gone! … No Wait A Minute” by Ken Levine
FWIW not at all recent.
schrodingers_cat
@raven: What color did you use? I really like it. Thanks.
TaMara (HFG)
@Cameron: Dwier Brown? I didn’t know he wrote, too.
ETA: This one? OMG, just the summary got me teary.
WaterGirl
@raven: So lovely! I want to stay there.
How did you guys get hooked up with the artist?
opiejeanne
Tamara, would you like us to share recipes if some of us have favorites? Should we email you with them?
opiejeanne
@Steeplejack (phone): I’m going to take a wild guess that the floors in Raven’s rental are red oak.
VeniceRiley
@C Stars: I like this one. Best old Hollywood book ever.
https://smile.amazon.com/Without-Lying-Down-Cari-Beauchamp/dp/0520214927/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=frances+marion&qid=1639692408&sr=8-1
But your friend, I suspect, would love this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/Woman-Who-Smashed-Codes-Outwitted-ebook/dp/B01M0EOI6I/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+woman+who+smashed+codes&qid=1639692571&sr=8-1
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Leto: No I have not read that one yet. So far I’ve read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Summerland, Telegraph Avenue, and The Yiddish Policeman’s Union. I have Manhood for Amateurs on the shelf but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. I think I may also have Gentlemen of the Road sitting there yet to be read too.
rikyrah
She is so adorable ??
C Stars
Oh my goodness, all of these look amazing and right up his alley. Now my trouble is not finding a book but deciding which one (or two or three) to get him! Thanks for the suggestions
Steeplejack (phone)
@SiubhanDuinne:
Good news about your brother!
CarolPW
Since people are talking about books, I would like to alert people to a new Woody Guthrie book of his lyrics and art compiled by his daughter Nora. She gave a great interview about it, and I bought it for my ex for Christmas. I had no idea he illustrated his lyrics, and apparently the book includes other examples of his art as well. It is bubble wrapped with a Guthrie sticker on it so I couldn’t get a look yet, and will have to wait until he opens it next week.
CarolPW
@opiejeanne: In that part of the country heart pine is typical. Has some red in it too.
Steeplejack (phone)
I have arrived at La Unión for Tex-Mex and a margarita. A reward for laboriously putting on the tactical gear (pants!) and venturing out to pick up meds and do a quick shop at Harris Teeter. I need this. Everything makes me tired.
On the medical front, swelling has gone down a bit and I am in the sore zone rather than the pain zone. Progress.
dearmaizie
Hiya Trix! What happened to you feets?
Steeplejack (phone)
@opiejeanne:
I was wondering if it might be some engineered product.
J R in WV
@Steeplejack (phone):
Floors look like HIckory a little bit. We have 2000 sq ft of hickory, with walnut trim around the edges. Covered with a non-glossy urethane, you can’t tell it’s coated at all.
Raven, good looking floor !! I don’t know that I would do anything with the fireplace. It looks old, which it is.
Josie (also)
@NotMax: Sounds like a great book. Philly does not now acknowledge any failure of the Sesqui.
Sure Lurkalot
@raven: Wow, both in reaction to how nice the renovations look and on having a renter already.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Middlelee:
Chef John is great! All of his recipes that I have tried are excellent.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Agree totally. Even if he is in the pocket of Big Cayenne.
;)
Sure Lurkalot
Love the Danes! Amazing that they get along so well already.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steeplejack (phone):
It is, thanks! And I’ve been cheered to read of your progress.
raven
@Steeplejack (phone): Red oak
raven
@schrodingers_cat: The boss lady does all that. Our contractor is renovating one of his rentals and he and our painter agreed with his decision to go all white. “It’s was more expensive to do multiple colors”. There are severe paint shortages so we have a lot left over because they had to buy 5 gallon cans!
eta you did mean the walls? The floor is going to be oil and basically clear using “monocoat”
eachother
Just got my calendars. Thank you all for sharing. My heart goes out to all the heart remembrances.
Thank you for putting these together. Every day is a gift.
Miki
OMG awesome pupper.
New pupper at La Casa Mikidee as well. Meet Tyler , 5 months old. My little house (and littler life) just could not bear the loss of my Sully, who passed last week at age 14 from Chronic Kidney Disease.
Thought (heh) I couldn’t do it again. Felt the wrongness of that thought and made things right.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
True story re this: my brother was part of a parents potluck. When he got divorced & split custody with the ex, he had to come up with something and he doesn’t like to cook. So I told him to bring a head of Romaine & this dressing & & he brought it every month.
I visit him & propose making something else. He asks the group, & they tell him no, we want you to bring that salad you always bring.
Whenever I’ve brought it to a Friendsgiving the hosts invariably want the recipe:
https://www.foodiebuddha.com/2011/10/28/21-club-caesar-salad-recipe/
CarolPW
@Miki:
Tyler is very handsome, and it always astonishes me how soft they are. So sorry about Sully, and yes, their passing leaves a huge void that demands to be filled.
Steeplejack (phone)
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thanks. I am on the mend, slowly but surely. I got so focused on getting the operation over and done with that I didn’t think much about the recovery. But I have the luxury of sleeping as much as I want and not having to do much. So it’s going all right.
Miki
@CarolPW: Thank you, Carol. I was surprised by the emotional gut punch I felt at Sully’s passing. He was a very challenging personality, and after 10 years with him (I got him as a re-homed rescue) his life became my life, especially after he got sick. My heart has been trained to care deeply for dogs, so that’s what I’m going to do, this time with a deliberately and well bred miniature poodle.
And yes – incredibly soft right now.
TaMara (HFG)
@opiejeanne: I think we can use the post this weekend to share recipes, at least that’s what I’m hoping happens. LOL
TaMara (HFG)
@Miki: OMG, adorable. I, as you know, completely understand the deepness of the loss.
Miki
@TaMara (HFG): Yes, you do.
CarolPW
@Miki: I kind of went backwards from you – Puck was the absolutely best girl, and after she died I adopted Bisket. She is often a completely piece of shit, and I suspect she thinks the same about me. But we love each other unreservedly.
Miki
@CarolPW: I always believed that someone opened the door and told Sully to git, so he did, and ultimately Animal Control picked him up. When no one claimed him a small dog rescue got him out. Sully was good out of the box until he felt comfortable enough to start showing his pushy self. Then he became ridiculously shitty. We worked hard to figure out how to live with each other, but it was never without drama. The drama both exhausted me and defined me for 10 years. I don’t know if I ever heal from that. I don’t know if I ever want to.
schrodingers_cat
@raven: I did mean the walls.
CarolPW
@Miki: Dogs, even when they were being complete turds, helped me be a much better person than I was before I had them. Four dogs, fifty years so far. The current one (not quite 3) is still working on developing my tolerance and patience. Fortunately she no longer shits on the floor so we are pretty much good.