It's winter, and I'm so glad we have a wood burning fireplace. The cats like to warm up during the day on a pillow in front of the windows. That's Latte on the left and Jazz on the right. I had to move this table into the back room to put my new sewing machine on it. It's a nice sunny room, but it's separated from our lounge and wood burner. I've put an electric oil heater under the table to keep warm while I work.
I bought this because my mom encouraged me to (well she paid for it). I'm short and I'm always needing pants hemmed. It's been a learning experience. I did a little bit of sewing as a kid, but I'm a total novice. This machine does a lot of things for you, but I've made plenty of mistakes already. I'm taking the "learn as you go" approach. It's really flexible, and does 70 different stitches. 
I started with trying to make a dog bed, but that was a bit too much. I had a lesson last Friday and learned how to put in a zipper. When I tried to do it myself, it took 4 attempts and about 4.5 hours. I did get the zipper installed in a pillow finally. It has been rainy and cold, and I didn't have anything else on my agenda, so I made this cat pillow this morning. I got the felt cat applique from the website Felt, which sells all sorts of crafty stuff in NZ. Latte approves.
Jazz is in the hospital, and might be able to come home tomorrow. He's been at the vet's for 6 days now, and has been catheterised 3 times. He has Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD), and had a blockage in his urethra that caused some tissue swelling and stricturing. So even though the stones seem to have been cleared from his bladder, and he's on anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants, Jazz is still having trouble passing urine. He had this problem twice in 2004, and I thought I had it fixed by feeding him a meat only diet. To read about the disease and diet is an exercise in frustration, because the biology is complicated. One of the vets who talked to me said that there's no evidence that the raw meat diet is any better for pets than the commercial foods. This is true, but it doesn't mean that the commercial foods are better, it just means that no one had the money to pay for the research to compare raw or homemade pet diets to commercial pet diets. I'm considering a veterinary nutritionist consultation, if Jazz comes home and recovers.Since the weather has been so cold, I've been watching a lot of movies. I love horror movies, and finally rented Planet Terror, by Robert Rodriguez. This was really great, I was totally screaming and laughing in my lounge. Darin even watched it. I also saw a NZ film, Second Hand Wedding (good), The War Within (good, sad), and watched Hellboy (the first one) again (great).
On the subject of weird food, I just HAD to get a picture of these bars that someone made for the Justesen family reunion. They are made I guess like Rice Crispy bars, only using Fruit Loops cereal instead. They pretty much distilled the essence of the midwest.
So what did I read on my holiday? A few people had recommended 
Darin and I had a 9 hour layover in Los Angeles, so we hopped on a bus to a shopping area north of LAX. We saw the movie 
The interior of an old house at Bonanzaville in West Fargo, above, and my husband Darin with my brother-in-law Richard, the deputy Sheriff (and his dog Lucky).
Darin and I are Fargo natives. We recently returned to visit our families, because my parents had their 50th wedding anniversary, and Darin's mom's family had a reunion. My siblings and I hosted a party for our parents at the refurbished Hotel Donaldson. It was supposed to be on the roof, but the weather was cold, so we moved it inside. We had relatives come from Florida (former Montanans), Montana, and Washington state. I was really pleased that everyone seemed to have a good time at the party. Mom and Dad got lots of cards.
The city has done a nice job of restoring the old buildings downtown. The Fargo theatre is one of my favorites. No, make that my #1 favorite. 
The old Fargo train depot is below. I cannot comprehend why this lovely building is not being used. The train office that's in use is in a boring square building next door. Darin and I departed Fargo by train to Minneapolis to catch our morning flight at 3 am. Amtrak train was really quite roomy and comfortable; affordable even. 
They just don't make bells like this anymore. Maybe that's a good thing, I just don't know.
The above photo was taken at Bonanzaville. I talked my old friend (from Longfellow grade school in North Fargo!) Sonja into going out there for a bit of old-timey, dusty entertainment with her two kids. Don't try to tell me Bison are uncool! Bison rule and that's final.
Bonanzaville is a bit of a relic, in need of a big monetary infusion, but it's comforting how it hasn't changed at all. There's still the creepy jar of teeth in the old dentist office. 
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