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Five pound of figs, five pounds of sugar and some lemons for fig preserves:

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Finally got my hair cut yesterday, approx 4 years after the last professional chop! Yay!

Nearly 14" ponytail removed to donate to the Little Princess Trust, and a much shorter, easier style.

I did similar last time, and a few years before that.

I might keep it short-ish for a while this time - with my health as it is, it takes a lot of my available energy to wash, condition, brush and dry very long hair every few days. My head also feels much lighter, and as I'm not tying it up all the time, hopefully I'll have fewer headaches from the ponytail pulling on my scalp.

Photos: 1. before at the salon; 2. after big chop but before styling (with baggie of hair to donate); 3. afterwards in the car.
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Finally got my hair cut yesterday, approx 4 years after the last professional chop! Yay!

Nearly 14" ponytail removed to donate to the Little Princess Trust, and a much shorter, easier style.

I did similar last time, and a few years before that.

I might keep it short-ish for a while this time - with my health as it is, it takes a lot of my available energy to wash, condition, brush and dry very long hair every few days. My head also feels much lighter, and as I'm not tying it up all the time, hopefully I'll have fewer headaches from the ponytail pulling on my scalp.

Photos: 1. before at the salon; 2. after big chop but before styling (with baggie of hair to donate); 3. afterwards in the car.
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I used to have headaches constantly when my hair was long. I pretty much lived on aspirin in my youth and later on acetaminophen to bear those daily headaches. Since cutting & maintaining a short very short style, I rarely get them anymore. Well, not the hair-pulling HA's. I do still get the occasional ocular migraine, but that is not hair-related.

And it is so much easier to keep my hair off of my face (mine is a very short style) and I don't have to wash it as often & when I do, WAY less shampoo. No real cost savings on hair products really, though because now I'm paying to get it cut every couple of months. But I don't have to buy HA tablets as often. :thumbup:
 
I am happy that actress Zyra Gorecki has a leading role in a the new television series that premiered tonight. AND that she wore her prosthetic openly as she ran down the street to escape a sink hole.

As the mother of an amputee (and as a nurse), it makes me happy to finally see something more than the occasional commercial or documentary depicting the plight of amputees. To see someone living their life with a prosthetic leg on a mainstream television series is truly a step in the right direction, IMO.
 
Wanted to make yoghurt … from raw milk I knew was about to turn sour … of course it curdled upon heating. BUT it curdled into Oaxaca cheese! 😃

I actually have tried before to deliberately make Oaxaca cheese (chewy cheese strings wrapped into balls) one or two times, with very limited success. If I only had known it's as simple as just waiting a few days until it smells off? 😆

Sorry, forgot to take pictures. Curiosity won and I ate it up a mere hour later. It did taste a bit bland (no surprise, no salt), but it had that exact stringy consistency that I think Oaxaca cheese should have. Honestly, I've never had one, it's hard to find here across the Pond.
 
A couple of days ago my long term special needs foster kitties went to their new home!

*Touch wood* they haven't been sent back yet, and their new mummy seems lovely, very caring and I know she'll do her absolute best for them. Her home and garden are ideal for cats. Last update was that they were purring, enjoying the TV and that she'd managed the first insulin jab just fine, so I think they'll be ok.

I did cry a bit when I said goodbye to them, of course, but not as much as I sometimes do...

Here they are a few minutes after I'd let them out the carriers in their new home - not hiding, already exploring:

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My happy today...

As much as my work drives me nuts, I still love it there. I can pretty much work anywhere I want with my experience, but I chose to stay there because I love the excitement and (for the most part) the people.

Well today I was named Lead Tech (or Senior Tech), which ever you want to call it...they can't seem to settle on the title.

I still have a Supervisor, so I am second in command. Next year when she retires than I am up for her position, which she has already been showing me the ropes.

Prior to this job I was the supervisor at another hospital for 8 years so it's nice to be moving up the ranks at my current job...more like, it's nice to be noticed as their strongest tech.

And the rest of the staff is behind me, which is so great. They are truly happy for me and are pushing me to be our next supervisor.
 
A couple of days ago my long term special needs foster kitties went to their new home!

*Touch wood* they haven't been sent back yet, and their new mummy seems lovely, very caring and I know she'll do her absolute best for them. Her home and garden are ideal for cats. Last update was that they were purring, enjoying the TV and that she'd managed the first insulin jab just fine, so I think they'll be ok.

I did cry a bit when I said goodbye to them, of course, but not as much as I sometimes do...

Here they are a few minutes after I'd let them out the carriers in their new home - not hiding, already exploring:

Congratulations on a job well done! How are they doing now? 5 days is plenty of time to get totally attached! How long did you have them? Is that tortie a sweet one, or a fiesty? I know the orange one is a sweetie - they all are!

We fostered too - but failed with miserably with the young tuxedo male I posted pics of. He was such a godsend for our young teen during the pandemic - a hero, really. Mischevious, energetic, needy; not my favorite personality as I like more independence in a cat. But I'll defend him to the end because of what only he could provide our girl during these awful times!

All of our 8 fosters have been special needs; I much prefer the emotionally damaged cats as I have a special patience for them. But one elderly diabetic cat on 4 meds left here after 4 months - on only 1 tiny dose of insulin a day!! Turns out the $5 a can IBS food he ate twice a day led to horrific levels of diabetes, a misdiagnosis of severe IBD...and something else. He was on prednisone, a chemo drug and a couple of others. He smelled like a sewer....his body, not just his litterbox.

He was getting 10 units a day, total. The IBS food was loaded with carbs so I switched him to Fancy Fest pate (lowest carb). Luckily the bet I took him too was fantastic and open to the low carb diet. But his numbers improved so quickly - that he began to question the IBD diagnosis...and stopped the steroids and chemo meds. Turns out the gut was healing without all of the carbs! Never had IBD. He had an intestinal overgrowth of bacteria....hence the smell and potty issues. A few months later he was a happy, more sprightly 17 year old with the bloodwork of a 2 year old!
 
My happy today...

As much as my work drives me nuts, I still love it there. I can pretty much work anywhere I want with my experience, but I chose to stay there because I love the excitement and (for the most part) the people.

Well today I was named Lead Tech (or Senior Tech), which ever you want to call it...they can't seem to settle on the title.

I still have a Supervisor, so I am second in command. Next year when she retires than I am up for her position, which she has already been showing me the ropes.

Prior to this job I was the supervisor at another hospital for 8 years so it's nice to be moving up the ranks at my current job...more like, it's nice to be noticed as their strongest tech.

And the rest of the staff is behind me, which is so great. They are truly happy for me and are pushing me to be our next supervisor.

Does this make all the aggravation worth it? Sounds like you're in a very good contention for the new position next year!
 
Congratulations on a job well done! How are they doing now? 5 days is plenty of time to get totally attached! How long did you have them? Is that tortie a sweet one, or a fiesty? I know the orange one is a sweetie - they all are!

We fostered too - but failed with miserably with the young tuxedo male I posted pics of. He was such a godsend for our young teen during the pandemic - a hero, really. Mischevious, energetic, needy; not my favorite personality as I like more independence in a cat. But I'll defend him to the end because of what only he could provide our girl during these awful times!

All of our 8 fosters have been special needs; I much prefer the emotionally damaged cats as I have a special patience for them. But one elderly diabetic cat on 4 meds left here after 4 months - on only 1 tiny dose of insulin a day!! Turns out the $5 a can IBS food he ate twice a day led to horrific levels of diabetes, a misdiagnosis of severe IBD...and something else. He was on prednisone, a chemo drug and a couple of others. He smelled like a sewer....his body, not just his litterbox.

He was getting 10 units a day, total. The IBS food was loaded with carbs so I switched him to Fancy Fest pate (lowest carb). Luckily the bet I took him too was fantastic and open to the low carb diet. But his numbers improved so quickly - that he began to question the IBD diagnosis...and stopped the steroids and chemo meds. Turns out the gut was healing without all of the carbs! Never had IBD. He had an intestinal overgrowth of bacteria....hence the smell and potty issues. A few months later he was a happy, more sprightly 17 year old with the bloodwork of a 2 year old!

Thank you!

I've had an update and it sounds like they're doing really well. Apparently they like the telly, which I never knew as we don't have one in the foster room. Might need to get an old tablet and set it up to play kitty TV on you tube for future fosters. I usually tend to do short term (often emergency) foster though, so more concerned about keeping them safe and healthy than about the type of entertainment they need once they've settled.

The tortie (Muffin) is a total sweetie - all she really wants in life is a blanket covered lap to curl up on. 🥰
The ginger, Alfie, is actually the feisty one. Also very sweet, but will absolutely tell you where his boundaries are with a quick swat, (claws out) a growl and flashing eyes. He also gives head butts and love bites that get a little too hard. I tried cautious introductions with our resident cats, and sadly Alfie wouldn't have been ok with them, as he'd stand up to them and it would have escalated into fights, which wouldn't be fair to my other cats as their peace is pretty fragile as it is.

They were here for well over 6 months - I lost track after a while. They were pretty tiring to care for as Alfie wouldn't use a litter box! Within a couple of weeks we got some carpet protector and puppy pads which helped, but still trickier to clean up, especially when he found the little gaps...
When I think back to how they were when they arrived, it's not a boast to say that being in foster likely saved Alfie's life. He looked like a pregnant skeleton, with dull, greasy looking fur, and walked like he had given up. Even without the diagnosis, I could have deduced that he had diabetes - I could smell the sugar in his pee and poo. He was drinking more than a full bowl of water daily and was so obsessed with food, that I struggled to find anywhere to store it in the room that he couldn't get to.
Now he still has a bit of a belly, but he's filled out over his bones, walks with purpose and looks like a reasonably healthy older cat. He still loves food, but isn't obsessed with it and still drinks a lot of water but not nearly as much as before.

Muffin arrived with over-grooming patches and even got to the point that I needed to put a soft collar on her. Once she felt safe, that stopped. She has ibd and our vet put her on steroids, so now her poo is close to normal and she's otherwise pretty healthy. Yes the high dose of steroids might shorten her life span, but it has greatly improved her quality of life, so I think that's a fair trade off!

Your tuxedo sounds lovely! We foster failed a kitten with some similar personality traits last year - she was meant to be very short term but I just fell for her, and still love her to pieces. She's also helping our other, more independent kitties, learn to get along. Most of them just tolerate eachother, but will let her get into their space, and very occasionally even share a lap! 🥰
 
I took my car in for it's routine 219K service, plus we know the timing belt is slightly overdue (about a 1,000 miles) for replacement. And the windshield wiper fluid seems to be leaking out of the system somewhere (probably a costly fix, per Hubby, but it is what it is and I desire/need it to work.) And the check engine light came on Friday night right after the Dead & Company concert, so I couldn't really put this off until I get home (~1100 miles from home currently.)

My HAPPY: I love my car and do my best to take really good care of her, and am confident she will do the same for me. I had over 300K on my first Volvo before an inattentive driver totaled her while choosing tunes rather than watching the road in front of him. So I know I am very safe in my Volvo (brand loyalty, Baby!)

Anyhoo, the loaner is a pretty darn nice brand new car. Not a Volvo, but it has all kinds of neat features & perks and it's fun to drive other cars sometimes, especially when they don't make me feel like I'm taking my life into my hands and driving a tin can down the Freeway (been there, done that, prefer not to do it again.) One of the cool perks is that I don't have to avoid toll roads like with rental cars, because there are no additional fees charged to me for using toll roads with this car (covered 100% by the shop). Loving that perk, especially because it's a little tough driving around here without using toll roads.

Hopefully I will know later today how long Gypsy will be in the shop and can start planning my return trip home.

Granddaughter's 20th is day after tomorrow. I wonder if she will magically become more non-teenager like on Wednesday like in that an old B&W movie that I cannot recall the name of, where 2 daughters changed over night when the 19 year-old turned 20 and became kind, curtious and responsible, and then the nice, sweet 12-year-old turned 13 and overnight turned into an image of her former teen-aged sister by being rude, unkind, argumentative, etc. I wish I could remember the name of that movie. I'd show it to my granddaughter and tell her that's what's going to happen to you on Wednesday. :rolleyes:

And she will suddenly care about smelling nice again. :shower:
 
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