On Saturday, I made bread pudding. It was still tasty, even with gluten-free multi-grain bread.
Not thinking, I left the recipe on the stovetop. You know what that means:
Tulip got into it.
The paper had become brittle over the years. So much so, it produced a singular crunchy sound, not the typical close-to-silent sound of paper towels when they are being decimated.
All I've heard for the last few days is that a major winter storm is heading our way. Then the forecast was amended to a dangerous ice storm.
The temperature has not moved above freezing. Tree branches were covered with a layer of ice (so pretty!), so we might end up getting some downed power lines.
Trust me: I am an unskilled photographer. Today I took two photos from my back porch, one of which is shown above. When I faced the camera in the opposite direction, the yellow porta-potty next door was the only thing to grab one's attention.
#BensonNC
#TulipHouse
#bigwinterstorm
It was an ordinary day when I opened a jar of Alfredo sauce. The home phone rang, so I walked to the living room to answer it. I was gone for only a minute.
That's when I heard the familiar sound of something falling to the floor -- a sound which invariably draws me to the source. Tulip had dumped half of the Alfredo jar's contents, as well as the jar lid, to the floor.
I have two sets of file boxes I bought from Temu. They are stacked in groups of three and packed with books, papers, etc. The goal was to be Tulip-safe, yet more accessible than plastic bins.
Today I discovered that Tulip can open them. The first time, I had a hard time convincing her to get out of the box. I closed the cabinet and went to my regular Scrabble game.
When I got home, lo and behold, one of the bottom doors was open. As per usual, she started emptying the bottom cabinet.
Tulip may not realize that the second set of these cabinets is in the office. It's only a matter of time.
#thetroublewithtulip
#catexplorer
While I was in the office, Tulip stopped by briefly. Nothing scintillating was happening, so she returned to the living room.
I could hear her noshing on paper. WHAT NOW?
....found today's mail where I'd left it, on my recliner. It was a seven page letter from Aetna. Three pages were damaged.
What hasn't Tulip gotten into?
In the living room:
A camouflage mesh curtain (shown on the right side above) separates one end of my house from the other. It used to close itself with magnets. A few days ago, Tulip was actively trying - and successfully freed one magnet.
Two office activities:
Yesterday, I was going to do two things at once: I put a bottle of Ensure on the counter, then turned around to take my morning meds. Then I heard something hit the floor. Forget the pills!
Tulip broke the bottle. The result was a large puddle of pricey chocolate milk.
This Ensured that Wednesday was off to a bad start.
But don't take this literally, Tulip.
Knock it off!
And let me tell you, it was not easy. I created so many versions in Google "Word," Google Sheets, and tried converting the documents to JPEG and PDF formats. Some were twice as tall as I needed. So, after much trial and countless errors, I'm sort of done. . . for now.
Today I borrowed a book from Smithfield Library..."Getting Started with WordPress." Chapter 2 is about blogging with Google. I have trepidations about uploading the books from Amazon onto the website.
So my banner looks like this:
.jpg)
Tomorrow I will tackle uploading images from other sites. My web changes show Merilee's Journey twice and doesn't contain the proper link. There is so much to learn!
I feel like a dunce! I went to the web with the intention of copying a picture of a dunce cap, but I'm not interested in paying for a vector or PNG image. When the dunce cap was created centuries ago, it was meant for really intelligent people to wear (according to Wikipedia). Dumb people rebelled, so the meaning changed to quite the opposite. The appearance of the cap changed as well, to more of the fool's cap.
It's because I am trying to teach myself how to make changes to things.
I have been touch-typing for over fifty years. Still, there are times when I would like to peek at the keys.
Check out this pic of my laptop's keyboard.
The keys used most often are Left Shift, E, R, T, and A. Soon to be worn into oblivion are S, H, N, M and CTRL; all are beginning to show wear and tear.
My ebook was launched a few days ago. Now it's not.
My paperback was launched. Today it's not released. The 2-page cover was uploaded, but everything after the cover sits on its left side. You won't believe how much agita this has caused!
Now I realize I don't know how to update the blog. I had one guy do everything for me.
The laundry list of Things That Need Updating grows ever longer.
2026 has not started well.