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The Manger Scene at LA Salette Shrine, Attleboro, MA
Sights, Scenes and Travel of an everyday person
It’s just another day in the life here at the old homestead. 3 cats, 1 human.
Stepping out of the shower I’m greeted by my “Bud”. Buddy has figured out that after the shower comes the hair dryer and he loves to have a blow dry to start the day. A handsome fellow like Buddy has to look his best.
Senior Cat Smokey, aka Mr. Cranky Pants continues his demanding ways. I’m working, Buddy and Rocky are sleeping but what’s that sound? A soft pitiful meow! Looking around I see a small bundle of gray fur curled at my feet, big eyes staring intently, “meow”.
Only the tiniest of sounds. I ask what’s wrong and a paw reaches out to tap my leg. I stand and he uncurls, heading for the feeding station. Oh my, his bowl is only half full. Surely he will starve to death before it’s time for dinner.
The laundry is on the first level. My condo, on the 2nd. As I open my door, arms full of clean clothes fresh from the dryer, a black and white streak nearly bowls me over and scoots down the stairs.
I put my dry laundry on the couch and turn in hot pursuit. I see a black tail with white tip taking the bottom of the stairs and rounding the corner. I hit the bottom stair and round the corner only to see that tail disappear around the corner at the end of the hall.
I race down there. I don’t want Buddy running into one of the dogs that live here or being let outside. As I round the last corner I see …nothing!
My heart starts to pound. Slowly I begin climbing the stairs on that end of the hall. First flight, nothing, 2nd flight and there he is, sitting there on the landing, waiting for me.
I pick up his Majesty and cradle him in my arms. Back down the 2 flights of stairs, back down the long hall and back up the last flight to my unit.
I open the door, set the errant one on the floor and close the door very fast.
I return to the couch to start folding the nice , warm, clean clothes only to find Rocky has made a nest and is curled up on top of the pile. Now every time I try to pull out a towel or shirt or sock I have to unhook his possessive claw. I try to shoo him away but he only digs in harder. He doesn’t give up until the last item is folded. Then he stalks away, annoyed that his warm bed was “stolen” from him.
I turn to put the folded clothes in my basket to carry them all to be put away and come face to face with his Majesty again. This time he’s taken up residence in the clothes basket.
I give up leaving him to play jail bird in the basket while I carry the stacks of folded clothes to the bedroom. Finally, everything is put away but they aren’t done with me yet.
To Be Continued….
Yesterday started a new month and as I usually do, I reviewed my stats for the month and check to see how I was doing compared to last year. My goal is to improve the traffic to my blog so as long as my numbers beat the previous year I figure I’m going in the right direction.
One of my favorite stats to check is where my readers have come from. WordPress has not only a list, but a map and I think this is so cool.
This is what the map looks like since I’ve been blogging on WordPress.

| Country | Views |
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So , my fellow bloggers, do you check your stats too? Which stat is your favorite?
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you “Be of good cheer”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
It’s the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It’s the hap- happiest season of all
This is the week that launches the holidays. Already there have been tree lightings and parades and I’m not talking about the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade. I’m hoping to get into Boston to check out the tree and decorations at Faneuil Hall. There was a 30 minute TV presentation for the lighting of the 95 ft. tree!
No snow yet. The weather folks were saying it was snowing on the south shore when I turned on the TV yesterday morning. I’m not sure where they were looking because here the sun was out and it was a beautiful, if cold, day. This morning, rainy and gray.
I think I might like the snow this year. I don’t have to drive in it. Working from home lets me relax and enjoy the changing New England weather without worrying about maneuvering through traffic to get to work.
Some of my neighbors have their holiday decorations up already. I’m still dragging my feet. It took 10 years before I was able to get a small Christmas tree up and keep it up with 2 curious cats. Each year they would systematically dismantle the tree. In the early years they pulled it down faster than I could put it up. Last year was the first year it really survived the whole season. Now I have a new cat and I’m debating if I really want to start the battle of the Christmas Tree all over again.
It’s not like I have little kids to impress. It’s just me but I did enjoy it last year. And the antics of 3 cats might make for an entertaining post.
Yes, I’m thinking I should at least try it out and see how Buddy reacts. See that’s why I write these posts. It helps me make decisions.
I bet we’ve all been there, stepped in that pile of dog poo that some inconsiderate dog owner failed to clean up. Yeeeew! It can ruin a person’s day.
The condo complex where I live wants owners to clean up after the pooches but in frustration they cleared a corner of the property where we had lovely trees and bushes and made it a doggy potty. Although the owners are still supposed to clean up I wouldn’t walk there without carefully looking. Even so I stepped in a mushy pile only a few days ago when I was taking pictures around the property and I wasn’t anywhere near the Doggy Potty.
I like dogs myself but stepping in a pile of poo is not my idea of a minor problem. I can see why there can be a back lash against dog owners. So far dogs have not been banned but it has been discussed in the past.
Now another condo in Braintree, MA. has gone high tech and I like the idea. You want to have a dog and live there. Ok a one time fee of $60.00 is assessed and you have to give a cheek swab from your dog so a DNA test can be done. If you don’t clean up after your dog the maintenance crew sends a sample off to the same lab and first thing you know a report comes back identifying the offending dog. If that DNA sample ID’s your dog you get to pay $150.00… a $50 testing fee plus a $100 fine.
What a great idea. It’s a shame it has to come down to that but now the owner can’t say it wasn’t their dog or say “prove it”. The association just did. According to the lawyers there is nothing illegal about requiring the DNA test and if an abandoned pile is tested, nothing illegal there either. I think it’s brilliant.
Kerry Weidner, a pet owner in Devon Wood, (That’s the condo complex in Braintree) says the service has transformed life at the sprawling complex. “We used to see dog poop almost every other day. You had to worry about where you walk on the grass because there was dog poop, a lot of different places,” Weidner said. “Now, you don’t really have to worry about dog poop. You can walk where you want, the grass is now ours again, we don’t have to worry about it, and that’s just a great thing.”
The DNA testing service is offered through Tenn.-based BioPet Vet Lab under the brand name PooPrints.