December! The most fun month of the year! Selfie Time!

 Yes, we would love for it to be the most fun month if the year...but for some its just more of the same as its been since March...sigh...stupid evil virus. Very evil virus:(

Petcretary told us they have all but two  residents, now testing positive for covid, and several staff as well.

There have been at least 4 deaths, and perhaps even more as time progresses. So far *she* tests negative, but with this virus being so virile and contagious, who knows. Our whole building is now what is known as a *red* zone, and *she* has to work directly with affected residents. Even with all the PPE we have, including N95 respirators, staff are still getting this. Some have been able to return to work, thankfully. We are now using agency nurses to fill in the empty holes...

Pray for her safety and to stay well, so she can keep up with helping pawppy....who is getting better by bigger steps each day. PT is helping him a lot. Hooray and Praise The Lord!

In order to stay healthy, she tries to get enough rest, and fresh air...and she takes plenty of specific supplements to assist the maintenance of good health and strong immune system. In case you are at all interested, here they are:

Zinc, Vitamin C, Epicor, Betaglucans, Several mushroom extracts, Vit D3, colostrum, echinacea, Oregano oil, olive leaf extract, and colloidial silver to name the most important ones. Some of those are really hard to come by there days, as many have now bought into the natural healing of herbs, and other modalities.

Well, she's been too busy to take any new pics...so we are doing a replay, aka flashback from last year about this time.

Many of you...our friends; know Miss Ellen and her many kitties. Jinx is a beautiful sweet kitty who is not feeling well at all, and she fears for him to be gone before Christmas...could you all pay her a visit to offer POTP and encouragement at this time?? Thanks!

One of petcretary's Facebook groups sent us this image for Angel Pipo:

In spite of all the horrors of covid, and other upsetting events, please enjoy this Christmas Season, and may you all have a measure of Joy and Peace in your hearts.

We are in the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop...hosted by The Wonderful Kitties Blue.

In Purr-suit Of Flavors ~ Ginger-Spiced Cranberry Sauce

 

INGREDIENTS:

12 ounces of fresh cranberries

1 apple, cored and diced

2 Tbs. of fresh orange juice

Zest from one orange

1” of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 Tbs. of ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. of ground cloves

Pinch of ground nutmeg

¼ tsp. of sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

Rinse cranberries and add them to a small saucepan with ½ cup of purified water.

Heat stove to medium high, stirring occasionally. The cranberries will begin to pop; this is normal, simply keep stirring and reduce to a low simmer.

Add the rest of the ingredients (apple, orange juice/zest, ginger, spices and sea salt) and simmer until everything is soft, about 15 minutes.

Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator up to a week before ready to serve.

~*~*~

Here is my own variation of this recipe: I had to adapt it because the first time I wanted to make this, I did not have any oranges or juice on hand, but I did have a jar of juice sweetened marmalade and candied ginger, instead of the fresh. I actually was pretty yummy! 

Ingrid's Own Gingery Orange Cranberry Sauce. (No pic, as it looks about the same as any other cranberry sauce.)

INGREDIENTS:

12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries

1 15 ounce jar of juice sweetened orange marmalade...or a smaller jar is ok, if you can't find a larger, the orangeness will be a bit less. 

I diced tart apple (Diced to about the size of the berries)

2 T finely minced candied ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

a little water to thin the marmalade a bit

1/2 C raw honey, or less if you prefer a not so sweet version

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Add all to a large saucepan, and mix well. Bring to a slow boil, then reduce heat and simmer till the berries pop. Stir often to prevent burning...

Remove from heat and cool. It will thicken up a lot. Easy to keep in a sealed container till you need it,  best served at room temp. 

Serve with your holiday meal, Delicious!  Good on toasted almond bread, too!

Shoko and Tybe as well as Da Phenny and Da Nelly are the hosts of this blog hop.

 

 

Post Thanksgiving Selfies

 

Yes, we are very late but still seasonal with our selfies this week...BOL!

Since our own leaves are all gone by now, well, we had to make do, BOL! Sorry for the wee bit of fuzzy focus...

I am ready for that turkey, OK?!

 

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

 

While petcretary did not have to be at her work, there was more than plenty to keep her way too busy here at home.

There was a roaming kitty a few days ago, and *she* had to move it out of harms way from our van twice, then since we were already n there, she put kitty in the yard....and saw er escape post haste, but she was already driving away! BOL! When she got home, we could sniff her but she wasn't around...later still petcretary was on FB, looking for how to let a rescue lady know some info, and lo and behold there was 'our' kitty! She was at the neighbor's place, where the lady had brought her inside. And she posted info about 'the lost kitty', who does she belong to, very friendly, etc. What kitty normally goes right up to strangers and even lets herself be picked up by them. A very social kitty indeed! And since petcretary does not have her phone number, well, she can't tell her who she thinks said kitty belongs to. *She* did leave a message on the neighbor's FB page, but with the new FB, well, she can't send it to her...sheesh. Well, she tried. Maybe if *she* knows that lady is home she will knock on her door.  Sadly we cannot take her in here, cause the only kitties that petcretary is not allergic to, are orientals.

Anypaws, we were in the van...well, cause we had to go to *that* place...but Dr Ben said we were fine and see you next year! Hooray!

While we were there, Angel Pipo was given back to Petcretary. He has a beautiful little walnut box, with an engraved nameplate on it...so now all the original bloggers, (and Dogster/Catster), furry ones are reunited. Someday *she* will get them all together for a photo session...

Pawppy is doing quite well, he gets around using either the walker or the cane, depending what he is doing. The walker gets more use early in the morning, when the hours of laying in bed make him feel stiffer and a bit unsteady. He can now even put on his own socks and shoes! That was a milestone!

He started physio early this week, and got some exercises think homework...to do at home as well. There is very slow but steady improvement in his weak leg, the nerve damage will take a long time to heal, the doc thinks maybe even up to a year. Wow.

We had a nice Thanksgiving celebration, though there was no church service, as we are used to doing. Stupid virus...There was turkey and fixings, all more or less following our keto/paleo mix of eating. IE, no grains, no refined sugars, or even none at all, no processed foods, unless they were made by ourselves...and lots of veggies, fruits,  and various protein sources. Plenty of good Earth Ale, too (water...) It is restrictive, but we are not hungry! Well, we do get hungry, but not in an abnormal craving sort of way.

She baked two grain-free loaves, one full of seeds and one just plain, with almond flour. Both were yummy, but the best one was with all the seeds, it gave a hearty texture. She made her own cranberry sauce, too. A bit spiced up, with oranges and ginger and other typical 'fall' spices. And she made a nut crusted pumpkin pie, YUM! With a good dump of whipped cream on top, Mmmm! Sorry, no pictures, she was too busy...

And we got a few tidbits of the white meat in our bowls, too, YUM!

Black Friday was quiet here, cause we did not indulge! At least not at stores...and since the medical bills are piling up...well, we shop only for what we need these days... and truthfully, we never really have done much about joining in with the greedy crazy peeps that try to snag all they can:(

Today we made Teddy's Turkey Salad! That was really good, thanks for sharing that! We put a good amount of spring mix (greens) on our plates, and put the salad on top of them. Then we had our seeded bread on the side! Delicious! (Us hooligans didn't get any of that, though...)

The viral explosion at petcretary's nursing home is awful...but thankfully, so far all of her tests, (2x a week),  are negative, and we hope and pray they stay that way.

Petcretary was one of four first commenters at The Tuesday Teaser, this past week...again at Teddy's blog, so she got this 'badge'!  Alas, while she was right with her guess, she was not first with it, BOL!

We are in the weekly Sunday Selfies Blog Hop! Thanks Miss Janet and your crew, for faithfully hosting this fun blog, each week! We love it and we love you!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

Selfies!

 Wow, a week goes by fast around here, sometimes!

The weather was nice most of the week, but today, well, its snowing...blech...its wet and soggy and dismal outside today...which means that if it continues, pawppy won't be able to do any walking outside on the nice long sidewalk we have...sigh...too much potential for a slippery disaster...and goodness knows we do NOT need any more of those things, ie: falls.

Pawppy is doing a lot better this past week. He got off the narcotics, Hooray! He feels a wee bit stronger and his 'bad' leg is slightly stronger too. Nerve damage takes forever to heal...he even ventured out in his car on Saturday...the first time in about 3 weeks! Hooray! Mostly the only major help he needs is putting on his support hose and shoes...and getting meals ready, too much twisting and such like to cook himself a meal. So petcretary does that, or leaves a 'fixed' one ready for him to use when no one else is around. Elder son cooks supper for them both when *she* is at work.

Speaking of work, that evil virus had left us largely unscathed, but in the past week, several staff and a lot more residents have tested positive, some badly enough to have to be hospitalized. So sad, what a big horrible mess. Petcretary sure hopes she can steer clear of it...but she had to care for a lady who got 'sent out' yesterday...so she got tested today, and again later in the week. All staff get tested 2 times every week.

There has been another partial shutdown here since Nov 18th, for three weeks...on account of the big surge in covid cases. Argghhhh! Virus be gone! Hurry up and leave us alone already!

Us hooligans  entered a giveaway at Kinley Westie's blog...and we won!! We received our prize the other day...we sniffed the package, but well, it didn't smell very yummy...and when *she* opened it, there was nothing good to chew on let alone eat...so we let her have all of it, BOL! Well, we might have had fun chewing up the t-shirt that was included with the brand logo on it, but somehow we would not have scored any brownie points for that! Maybe soon *she* will post a pic of the Fauna Skin care items and model the (way too large), T-shirt!  Thanks so much Kinley, Brinley and Finley for having that giveaway! Now we have good products to use if we need them! Hope we don't, BOL!

We are not happy with that evil covid virus...it messes everything up.

Corona V, do see my glare?? Its aimed right at you! Get lost!

The Kitties Blue, who are the weekly hosts of the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, are having major troubles with their blog. So if you do not see any new posts, try and access an older one, so you can subscribe to it, then you may be able to get their latest news and posts.  Meanwhile, know that they are working hard to get themselves up and running for all of us to once again enjoy and support. And we are thankful for their continued efforts to do this weekly hop! You can join in if you wish, just click on the caption under the blog, or click on the linky below.

Click here to join in the Sunday selfies blog hop fun!

 

Sunday Selfies With The Hooligans

 

Angel Pipo, as rendered by Laura Strickland, from The Cat In The Clover; she is a friend from our Catster days, some of you might remember her.

Angel Pipo will be 'home' soon, and then he will be reunited with Angels Minko and MJF...in a place of honor.

Us Angel Meezers will now go around the blogosphere as Angels WBS. 

We used to be known as WeBeesSiamese,  back in the days when we were on the earth together…which was shortened to WBS...hence the new moniker, Angels WBS (Pipo & Minko)

Well, once again Sunday is upon us, which means its Sunday Selfie Day!

Us hooligans will show ourselves in a wee bit...

Thanks so much to all who have sent POTP for Pawppy. He is getting better, a wee bit by wee bit...but at least he is going in the right direction. We had a scare on the 10th, he lost balance and smashed his face into the door frame...and had to make a trip to the urgent care to get stitches...sheesh, as if he didn't have enough troubles. But he says he thinks his leg which was very weak, is somewhat stronger now.

Petcretary marked a year's journey around the sun this past Friday...the unfur-bros brought us a meal and we feasted! It was a strange celebration, on account of this evil virus mess we are in, but we did all enjoy ourselves. You know what??! No pictures were made...haha!! She got a few phone calls, and some emails as well...and some greetings on Facebook...

The weather has gone from balmy to downright chilly! Friday night it went to about 25F, Brrr!

But now its rainy and windy as well....our brief trip from autumn to summer has returned to the proper season, hahah! We do need the rain though, so we will not grumble, and we also are glad it is not snow!

On Tuesday, petcretary was the first correct guesser of this image, in Teddy's Tuesday Teaser.

Hinterdorf, Zermatt, Switzerland

She got this badge as her 'reward'

Well, here are the selfies you all were waiting for:

It rainy and cold, so I am pouting...

 

I wish it would stop raining...I want to outside to dig more holes...

We are  in the  Sunday Selfies with The Kitties Blue

Angelic Styled Sunday ~ And A Pawppy Update

Well, it has been a crazy week for our family. Sad, stressful, anxiety filled and otherwise filled with uncertainty and turmoil.

Election stress, Pawppy's Surgery, Pawppy's return home, and Pipo's passing. Also this week would have been the week of fun and happiness for Petcretary, as she always reserved this week to travel to see her family in Canada. Well, Covid put a kabosh on that:(

Well, since we cannot change what is, we have to live with it all, and try to make the best of it.

All the hub-bub regarding Pawppy helped petcretary have things to occupy herself with, instead of falling apart over Pipo. Being a health care worker herself, she has learned over the years that one has to deal with the things of the moment and then later you can think about other things. Yes, the loss of Pipo is severe and it was sudden and she feels awful about that, on the verge of tears or even in tears...but the next day Pawppy had his surgery...she had a hard time keeping it together at times. SO much on her plate. Probably she would have anyways. LOL!

Then the peeps at the hospital deemed that Pawppy was able to go home a day earlier than originally planned. Yikes, she had nothing set up here yet. She was going to do that after visiting him that day...quick change of plans, some phone calls and a wild scramble to get the bed into the livingroom...cause stairs are out of the question right now...and to move all the kitty beds, litter pans and doggy gates out of the 'main drag' to prevent falls, etc. And a few other things...

So yes, Pawppy is home and today is better than his first day back, when he about fainted to the floor twice. 'She' was there to park a chair under him and push him into it before the worst thing(s) might occur...and he sat there for a while, till some food and coffee 'revived' him. Too many pain killers, likely a low blood sugar, and just the fact of getting up after about 12 hours in his bed...thankfully none of that today. At least unfurbro-the-elder is here, so he won't be alone, at least for several more days, until we can be sure he can get around safely. Thankfully Petcretary is off until the 16th...

Benji was SO happy to have Pawppy back! 

Dalton seemed very anxious about this new Pawppy with that big walker thing with a swinging bag hanging from it, that holds his big reaching stick...he growls and barks at him...sheesh. That poor pup is so messed up...but he does come up to him when he sits down in the chair, looking for a chin scritch...

It is so quiet around here, with no Pipo. No kitty running into the kitchen when the yogurt container is opened to demand his lick of the spoon...no Pipo climbing on to the table to beg for a tidbit of whatever pawppy is eating...no Pipo in the sunpuddles...no Pipo to lead the way through the house, no litter pans to empty, no food to monitor  or feed...no meds to give, no throwups to clean up, no inappropriate pee-pees to clean up on the puppy pads, etc. No Pipo to purr loudly and knead pawppy's lap, or warm it up either. No kitty conversations between the peeps and Pipo, or the pups and Pipo...in other words, NO Pipo. Final. 

Who would think that all those chores that are involved with a geriatric kitty would be so missed? SOB...SOB...

When we were getting the bed out into the living room, we found all kinds of lost kitty toys, mostly pom-poms and little fur batabout balls, sort of like pom-poms. And a crocheted toy that we had gotten from Miss Ellen from 15&Meowing. More tears were shed as 'she' tenderly gathered those up and placed them with some of his other things we are going to save...

We want to THANK ALL who sent emails, comments and other comforting thoughts our way. We appreciate them all, and hopefully will respond to them all....eventually. 'Blogville' is a very supportive community, and we love how in times of stress and grief, they all gather around to help; each, however small or large  gesture, is filled with love and concern.

OK, here are some of the card/memento/graphics we received in Pipo's honor.

Thank you, Ann, from Zoolatry

Thank you, Janet, from The Kitties Blue

Thank you, Sherri Ellen, from The Purrfect Pad

 

Petcretary actually found some time to make a memorial memento for Angel Pipo...feel free to use it if you wish, he would be honored.

Pipo   ~  Dec 26, 2004 - Nov 3, 2020

Here are we hooligans, we miss our kitty brofur...but we still have our good furends and furmily!

I had my head in the tall grass at the fence...BOL!

That silly pesky grass is still there...Nothing much sticks to Dalton...

 We made a get well card for Pawppy:

It was also a sad week in Blogville for another reason. Our good furend Summer, lost her sisfur, Boodie. (There were some other new Angels, too, though we did not know them...) So we asked petcretary if she could pawlease make a memento for Boodie as well, and she did! You know what?? She even made it before she made Pipo's.  Awww, that was nice of her, we think:)

Boodie

Pipo & Minko, the kitties known in the past as WeBeesSiamese may begin to appear here in angelic flashbacks now and then and may comment from  Kitty Heaven as well, after Pipo gets his shiny new strong wings to be able to fly back and forth...Angel MJF may even appear, too:)

Us hooligans will try to keep the blog alive and well with our silly and funny antics and some nice pics too. Of course we will make new selfies...well most of the time!

Once again, thank you from the bottom of our human and puppy hearts for all your love and concern these past few days...and into the future as well.

We are in the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop