songbird's crazy world

 The battle for the sunny spot Want to see where Shadow wound up?

 Moon set through my window #skywatchfriday

More visitors.  The ginger cat seems to think he owns the place. .  Simple pleasure. Lying in bed, snug under a blanket, listening to the sound of rain beating against the windows, A simple pleasure that’s been denied  for months, until tonight.  We got rain.  Not enough to end the drought.  But enough to keep the brush fires at bay, at least for now. But the rain and the wind …it is fierce tonight. I guess winter is really on the way.

  Yes, a raccoon.  Did you know they’re members of the bear family? I discovered that many years ago, when my mother had to pay someone to remove a deceased raccoon from under the deck of our pool. As long as he’s not messing with my garbage cans, he’s welcome to visit any time. And then there’s my ginger buddy

 Weird night …there’s been a helicopter circling my house again … So the governor has declared that we are officially in a drought.  Oh, fun …We are supposed to get some rain later this week, but not nearly enough.  Can I say that I absolutely hate this?  So annoyed, I went to the supermarket yesterday and bought a couple of bottles of teriyaki sauce.  I was so careful packing up my shopping bags.  Or, at least I thought I was careful.  I apparently cracked one of the bottles when I packed up the car, and it leaked all over the shopping bag.  Ugh. But I picked up the ham for our Friendsgiving.  I’ve never cooked a ham before. Drew prepared a ham once.  So I’m sure we will figure out what to do with this ham.  We get the frozen turkey on Monday.   I’m going to make the mushrooms stuffed with Boursin and I’m going to bake gluten free cornbread—  I use a mix but I “doctor” it by adding honey to the batter.  Still haven’t figured out what I’m getting from the gluten free bakery,  But thing

 Ring alerted me to a person in the back yard. There you go, proof that cats are people too. He’s a big boy …

 So, as I mentioned yesterday, I’ve seen the stage production of Wicked  twice.  First time was in 2003, when it was in previews on Broadway, and the second time was in 2014.  I loved the show and I was waiting for the movie … it opens on Friday, but Drew got an offer from Fandango, and we saw a special preview showing last night. This being Long Island, home of the quintessential theater nerds, virtually the entire movie audience was more than familiar with the Broadway production.  Many of the (mostly female) audience were wearing pink and green (the colors featured in the movie) and/or shirts with Wicked graphics.  The two women in the row in front of us were wearing witch’s hats.  And one woman was dressed in her best Glinda cosplay. This being a theater nerd audience, several people actually applauded after the musical numbers. We saw it in IMAX, which makes the special effects really pop. *spoiler alert* *spoiler alert* *spoiler alert* *spoiler alert* This movie is actually part

 Simple pleasure.  A bowl of strawberries, blueberries and some Reddi Whip. We’re going to the movies tonight.  We usually don’t go out on a weeknight, but we have the opportunity to see Wicked  before its official opening.  Although we did see a big-screen showing of  The Wizard of Oz  on a Wednesday night.  I’ve seen the Broadway musical twice, once when the show was in previews and again in  2014 .  I’m excited to see the movie.  So it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but we are talking about New Year’s Eve.  We usually celebratewith a small group of friends.  Last year we went to a restaurant that threw a party.  It was not a success evening.  The previous year we had a very lovely evening at Drew’s house   That seems to be the pattern.  So it looks like Drew and I will be hosting again.  We have a very good next door neighbor.  His shrubs overhang our driveway.  He comes over to our side of the fence to trim the shrubs.  We don’t really know our neighbors, but I’m glad they’re taking

 The forecast calls for rain, lots of rain, Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I never thought I’d be hoping for a rainy day! But the drought … Anyone remember when “rain” was the  Music Monday  theme?   A couple of the videos I posted are apparently no longer available, but we can still enjoy the rest.

This week’s theme?  Marie at XmasDolly suggested that we come up with songs about winter, cold weather sports, or snuggling up with friends. It’s just around the corner folks! I’m not particularly fond of winter, so …    But I think we can manage a few happier songs …

 Turkeys abound. This one has two “poults”.   This one is adorable Interesting how that house still has Halloween jack o lanterns on the lawn. This house is ready for Christmas  Clearly a Nightmare Before Christmas fan. This is what I mean by McMansion That house has a vibe so different from the rest of the neighborhood. Birds  Notice the outdoor staircases on these houses. That’s usually a sign of an accessory apartment on the second floor.  In Nassau County, you’re allowed to have an apartment, with proper permits, but permits are usually restricted to an apartment for a family member.   But that doesn’t mean people get the permits.  A lot of people build an apartment and rent it out.  Housing costs on Long Island are ridiculously expensive, there aren’t many apartment buildings, there’s a huge market for these accessory apartments.  (I never asked my landlady if my old apartment was legal…my stairs were indoors…) I’m really enjoying these walks.

 Morning in my back yard. 

Simple pleasures …sitting in my kitchen, drinking my coffee and scrolling through my iPad.    So I probably will not get trapped in my own back yard again.  We added a chain to the latch, so it can be opened from inside the yard.  What a relief! Went to the pharmacy and got my Covid booster Friday afternoon.  My doctor gave me my flu shot two weeks ago, so now I’m all set. Remember when getting the shot was a big deal?  I had to drive into Manhattan to get my shots the first time, back in 2021.  Remember calling it the  Fauchi ouchie ? Thank goodness we’ve moved on from those terrible days.   After I got my shot, Drew and I grabbed some burgers at Shake Shack.  There’s a reason we went there … back in 2021, you’ll recall, you had to get two shots, about a month apart.  After my second shot … the plan was to stop at Shake Shack before going home.  I was driving (I have a Prius C, much easier to park in.NYC than the minivan Drew had at the time), but the shot made me very, very tired …an

  My Girl Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: My Girl (1965) Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it  here . 1) Temptations' lead singer David Ruffin sings that he has sunshine on a cloudy day. How does the sky look where you are today?  Sunny but cold.  2) He maintains that even when it's cold outside, to him it feels like the month of May. What's your favorite month?  I love sunny summer weather, so July fits the bill.  But my birthday is in February, and so is Drew’s, and we socialize a lot because of it.  3) In addition to their

 Inspector Shadow And then she decided to rest … Duchess doing cat things     And when she realized I was watching her And then there's this She's fascinated by her own reflection...I think she thinks it's another cat.

 Saw some planes fly past the water tower… #skywatchfriday