TV, Books and Rosie

I finished watching another episode of Gotham...  the latest episodes are much better than the first two of this season, but I still don't like the reporter, Valerie Vale.  Benedict Samuel was perfectly cast as Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter; and I am truly enjoying his performances.  Poor Penguin!  Finally deciding that he loves Ed Nygma, and then Ed meets a doppelganger of Kris Kringle - Penguin will be crushed, I'm sure...
   Also enjoying The Blacklist this season.  I want to know what happens to Mr Kaplan, since she is chained to the foot of her iron bedframe...  And I just wish they'd find Agnes and get her back to Elizabeth, so other stories will continue...  I have to admit that I don't care who Elizabeth's father really is - Red or Kirk.  I absolutely love James Spader, but the rest of the characters, other than Dembe, are becoming a real drag.
   Just finished reading Boar Island, Winter's Child, and The Obsidian Chamber.  Have started on The Legacy of Gird, then have three more Eight Kingdoms novels ready.  After that, I'll need to visit the library again.  -  I've lived at this address for over a year now, and have received books from every club that I'm a member of.  I was, therefore, quite surprised that my last order was, somehow, sent to my previous address.  I received confirmation that it was delivered, and declared it missing; then actually looked and saw that it had been dropped off at my old address.  Of course the new tenant and the management claim to have never seen the package of books.  I'll have to order them again, and pay for them again, since they were to be Christmas presents...   I can't believe that I was so stupid as to not be certain that my shipping address was correct.  Now I double-check it each time I order anything.
   And I move in with Rosie on Wednesday...  We'll have a blast together, and I'll make certain she's comfortable and happy...   She's such a wonderful girl.

Odds and Ends

There was a pretty heavy downpour last night, and parts of Norwood Avenue were under standing water this morning when I went to feed and love Seek.  My sweater smelled like Pounce, and Seek let me know she didn't appreciate the scent of a male cat in her house.  After visiting my kits,  I stepped out the south door of the apartment building and looked at Boulder Creek.  It is rising, but it's not at a level that makes me concerned - yet.  Already fed and walked Lola and Cooper, and fed and medicated Pounce and Tipsi, so I have a little while before I'm due at Rosie's.  Maybe it'll stop raining and I can walk her.

This handsome colt is an extreme rarity on a thoroughbred track.  His name is Koda Chrome, by Blue Eyed Streaker, out of A Black Beauty by Atticus; and he's trained by Tom Drury.  His sire is one of two stallions in the thoroughbred registry that carry the overo coat gene.  This three-year-old made his racing debut at Belterra Park in Ohio yesterday.  He was in a speed duel for the lead, and ended up in third place.  Jack Van Berg trained his sire.
   The Grand Jury was cancelled last night, so I was able to watch the next-to-last episode of The Blacklist  - along with next week's teaser where Elizabeth tells Red that she "remembers everything" about the night of the fire (and possibly, all of her own personal history?).   That episode teaser is tantalizing.  SO glad that the show has been renewed and that they have made Hisham Tawfiq a regular co-starring cast member.  Dembe Zuma is an extremely interesting character!

Sudden Change in Plans

First, the snow has finally begun to fall for our predicted "Big Snow" event.  We were told that we'd get heavy rain, thunder and lightning yesterday afternoon, and that during the night, the rain would change to snow.  No rain. No lightning.  No thunder.  Snow began to fall about 4:30 this morning - and has just managed to cover the grass in the yard.  According to the weather folks, we'll get about 5 to 8 inches of snow by midnight, and then get that amount again tomorrow, with the snow continuing until noon on Monday.
   I was supposed to spend last night here at home with my kits.  I spent Thursday night at Tess's.  Yesterday afternoon, after I had taken all of my stuff home, I got a call from the lady who rents the downstairs apartment - she and her Mom were stuck on the western side of the Continental Divide in a snow storm, and couldn't say when they'd get back to Boulder.  I assured her I'd stay until either she or the owner returned.  Then I called the owner in New York.  She was supposed to fly back in a small private plane on Sunday.  She might not be able to leave until Monday - which has thrown my schedule completely out of whack.  But that's OK.
   I fetched my overnight stuff back last night, and spent the night with Tess again.  Home again, for the moment.  The kits are upset with me, because I'm not giving them enough love…  I'm now back at Tess's and am still watching the snow fall.  The owner called me at home, and asked me to feed the birds, and allow Martine, the gardener, access inside the house.  That's no problem.  I've fed the birds, fed all of her critters, and finished going through my e-mail.  I would really love to snuggle with Lovey and Nedi, but that will have to happen later.
   I was just getting settled down and extremely interested in Vikings Thursday night when the screen started showing the credits.  I felt lost - I had just been drawn back in time, to the early 9th century, and then - boom - it was gone.  I immediately wanted at least three more hours of the show then and there.  And, I have to admit, I watched it a second time, as the History Channel shows it back-to-back on Thursday night.  It was fun to see King Ecbert trying to flirt with Lagertha, and Floki was his usual prickly self.  Ragnar looked concerned about Bjorn's tenderness towards his new wife, and Rollo had his usual "what the…" attitude.
   The Blacklist was also intriguing - and, just as it was getting very intriguing, time was up.  And the writers on How To Get Away With Murder really know how to make a viewer crazy.  Introduce a whole new set of clues, throw Miss Cecily Tyson into the mix, with her own story of sexual exploitation and murder  - and I'm drooling to find out what happens next.  Too bad I'll be at the Grand Jury Thursday night, and will miss each and every show.  I guess I'll have to catch up on-line on Friday...

Bits

Yesterday was cloudy and cool, but not windy.  We're supposed to be cloudy again today, with a high near fifty; but the weather folks say we'll get about a half-inch of snow Saturday.  That's fine with me - I'll be walking Rosie, Tess and Lucy this morning and then Tess this afternoon, as well as twice each weekend day.  Currently, it's 32 degrees outside and the squirrels are bouncing around like performing acrobats.  My kits have decided to sleep instead of play outside, so I have the patio door closed.
  Watched a new episode of How To Get Away With Murder last night, and saw the plot thicken immeasurably... Violet Davis definitely deserved the Screen Actors Guild award that she won this past Sunday.  Her supporting cast is excellent, as well, and I'm going to be hard pressed to decide what to watch next week.  Television networks are always after the highest ratings.  Starting next Thursday night, NBC moves The Blacklist into the time slot opposite ABC's How To Get Away With Murder; then on 19 February, the History Channel adds Vikings into the mix, at the same time.  I don't have DVR or Tivo service, nor Xfinity On Demand.  I'll have to watch one, and then see the others on-line...  And, while I understand why the networks do this, I really dislike it.
   It's still a question as to whether or not Peyton Manning will return as the quarterback of the Denver Broncos this season.  Coaches are still being sought and hired throughout the professional league and the collegiate leagues, so I'll keep my mouth closed until it seems that most posts have been filled.  Peyton, however is going to receive the Bart Starr Award today at the Super Bowl Breakfast, for personifying professional football and for sharing with the community through his Pey-Back Programs in Denver, Indianapolis, Tennessee and Louisiana.
   I'm still looking forward to seeing the Super Bowl commercials, and I have refused to watch all the "sneak peeks" that have been released.  I know that a "GoDaddy" ad has been withdrawn from the broadcast because of negative feedback, but I believe that the .com has received so much publicity from revealing they've pulled the ad that it doesn't matter.  I prefer to see the commercials as they are presented, and to be surprised.  Of course, I'm also looking forward to the new episode of The Blacklist that will follow the actual game - especially since it introduces Ron Perlman as a new recurring character.  This should prove interesting....

Spring Is In the Air

It is a beautiful day - the sun is shining in partly clouded skies, it's 64 degrees and winds are calm.  I have the window and patio door wide open - and, because some yard work is going on, both kits are inside and not unhappy about it.  I've returned my due library books, and have walked Rosie and Lucy.  I also purchased a couple of lottery tickets on the way home.  Whenever the lottery gets to a certain level, and, especially in springtime, I start dreaming of buying a home on Chincoteague.  I'll need to win the lottery to be able to do so.  I know there's an extremely faint chance that I might actually win, but hope springs eternal, and this is my pocket money I'm playing with...  All bills are paid and current, and the kits and I have plenty of food and supplies for the rest of the month...  Ever since a certain set of "townhomes" was built on East Side Drive, facing the Assateague Lighthouse, I've wanted to live there - and one of the homes is available.  But I also like some of the older homes that have been remodeled with central heat and air conditioning - I just wouldn't know exactly what I'd do until the money was in my bank account....
   Butterflies are appearing, and Lynn Thore's bees and the Chandler bees are busy throughout the neighborhood - most of the open blooms are currently dandelions, but that's OK - we need the bees as pollinators; hopefully the apple trees haven't been damaged so far.  The squirrels are definitely feeling Spring in the air, as are the ducks and geese.  This morning I saw a male house finch feeding a female a tasty worm, and I gave him a thumbs up for his courting manners.  One of the joggers going by asked why I had made the gesture, and when I explained, she seemed amazed; she said she sees the birds when running but she never focuses on what they're doing.  I made the comment that I believed that what I saw and enjoyed was called "stopping to smell the flowers, and/or looking at nature."  She thinks I'm a little strange, from the look she gave me...
   I really enjoyed watching The Blacklist last night on NBC.  James Spader keeps getting better with age!  And the story lines are always well written and intriguing.  I wonder what is shown on the photos that Lizzie looked at last night - the ones that turn her completely against Red.  Are they true photos?  Are they fake?  Have they been photo-shopped?  Do they show Red smothering her father with a pillow in the hospital?  What?  Tonight I have NCIS and Person of Interest to enjoy, and then I'll be waiting for Vikings on Thorsday night.  But I'm sure that Rosie and I will have a lot of fun in between times!

?!? Snow !?!

Returned home last night just before it was completely dark out...  Luckily the dog next door was either not at home, or locked inside, and the kits got to play outside for a couple of hours.  I let them out for an hour this morning, and then gathered them before going to Dellwood and Riverside.  I had to laugh - our weather forecasters have been almost perfect in the last week.  Last night, they said that we'd have a high of 47 today, with partly cloudy skies in the morning, and sunny skies in the afternoon.  That when the sun came out, the wind would pick up and the temperature would then drop.  It's completely overcast this morning, and the clouds were hugging both Baseline and Green Mountains...  I looked at that and shook my head. The temperature dropped 5 degrees before I left this morning.  It started to snow while I was turning out the chickens - and we're continuing to have flurries.  Rosie's back was covered multiple times while we walked this morning; then her limp became more pronounced, so I took her home a little early.  I think the cold and damp was making her arthritic ankle and foot ache...  Got home and opened the door for the kits to go out, and they were chased back inside by Britta's service dog....  Then it proceeded to eat all the nuts I had placed out for the squirrels - he climbs into the chairs and gobbles them down.  I just purchased two small but heavy-duty colanders that I will hang today with the squirrels' nuts in them.  Maybe then the dog won't eat the squirrels food!
  And I'm looking forward to seeing James Spader tonight in The Blacklist!

Windy In the Foothills

It's 29 degrees outside, and, currently, the wind is calm, and the sky is cloudy.  We've been told that we can expect occasional snow flurries until noon...  I'm just happy that the wind is calm at the moment.  Our Chinook winds have been blowing since last Friday - they are pretty much straight-line winds, but here in town, the winds tend to swirl around the buildings and cross streets.  Why am I talking so much about the wind?  Well, on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane scale, winds of 74 to 95 miles per hour are considered a Type One Hurricane, while winds from 96 to 110 mph is a Type Two - of course, these are sustained wind speeds, but I can tell you that single, swirling gusts of wind at these speeds are dangerous, too. Last night, there was a wind gust of 102 mph recorded by the National Weather Service at Evergreen, a town west of Denver, in the Rocky Mountain Foothills.  Just up the canyon (west) of Boulder, Nederland had wind gusts all day that were between 64 and 92 miles per hour.  Gold Hill, one of my favorite little Gold Rush villages, to the west of us had gusts recorded from 54 to 92 mph...  When you step outside, you never know whether the wind will be calm, or if it will be turning buses and 18-wheel trucks over.  Definitely makes for an interesting day!
  It's now snowing 40 miles north of us, in Fort Collins - and the sky looks like, and the air smells like, snow outside.  My kits had a blast running around outside this morning - last evening, the wind seemed to be a bit much for them, and they stayed inside.  I put out food for the squirrels and ravens and crows this morning - and they stuffed themselves.  One of the older ravens came up and pecked at my patio door, as if he wanted more food, once they had cleaned up what I had put out.  And, with the cold, the snow has such a thick crust on it, I can walk along the edge of my patio and not break through - now, that's amazing!
  I was lazy last night and watched 3 and 1/2 hours of television.  First, I enjoyed Jeopardy! and was happy that I could question the final answer correctly.  Then I watched Almost Human, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows, even though it is rather violent.  I followed that with a new episode of Sleepy Hollow, and loved the way they "tipped their hat" to The Exorcist for this one.  The Blacklist was my nightcap, and, as always, James Spader delivered a terrific performance.  He really is phenomenally good as a man with no conscience in his roll of Reddington.  I do love him as an actor!
 

First Day of Fall Equals More Rain After Flood

Today arrived sunny but cool - 47 degrees and a breath of breeze from the west.  But the clouds have begun to pile up in the west, and we're expecting more rain this afternoon and evening.  At least we didn't have the low that was forecast for one of the ski towns last night, which was 27!  I thoroughly enjoyed supper last night, as my friend Bea and I walked the 9 blocks to Turley's Kitchen, at the corner of Pearl Street and 28th Street (aka US 36).  Besides the the heavenly food, we had a good time observing other customers, and chatting with out server, a young lady from Alabama.  Then we strolled back home, stopping to pick up a few odds and ends at the grocery store.
  My kits wanted out immediately upon my arrival home, and I opened the patio door.  Then I visited the bathroom, and changed clothes.  By the time I approached the patio door, I could hear Lovey in full battle mode - howling, growling and hissing.  As I stepped onto the patio, the girl next door started yelling, "You!  You leave my cat alone!"  I immediately called Lovey and made both her and Nedi stay inside for the rest of the night.  When the girl next door adopted her cat, she told me that she'd never, ever let it run free in the back yard - apparently she started doing so while the kits and I were staying at Kathy and Jim's.  The problem is that after 7-plus years here, Lovey considers herself the queen of the complex.  She doesn't have upper teeth, but she has mighty claws, which move incredibly fast - and she feels the need to chasten anyone who strolls about without her permission.   I hope that Baby and Lovey, and the girl and I, can come to a less war-like understanding.
   I was able to cheer the Gators on yesterday, and am watching the Packers now.  Tomorrow night I'll watch the Broncos, but I also want to see the new TV show with James Spader - The Blacklist.   I have the feeling that James Spader will win in that contest.