All Holiday - Gifts Delivered and Cards Received

Fortunately I'm not in a massive rush today, so I get to write an actual blog. I'm quite happy about that. I gave personalized cat mats to each of my three friends who own cats here in the USA. (I'd have included the four "Ginger Boys" who own my friend Linda in the UK, but shipping one of these to her would have been quite expensive, so I kept it to USA friends only). Each mat is personalized with the name and cat likeness of the cat or cats. Chickie got one for Roxie and Tilde, Sharon got one for Sam and Dean, and Chickie Mama (Claire) got one for Milkweed. They were all a hit, but Milkweed has claimed ownership of her mat. She curls up on it all the time. It's totally become her private properly. LOL

Milkweed, my friend Chickie-Mama's cat, has 
claimed ownership of her "Cat Rules" mat. 
The mats were each personalized with the 
approximate image of the cat(s) and the names 
of said beast(s). It was a holiday gift that was 
well-received by all who got one; two legged 
and four legged, both. 

I've received more than 20 holiday cards from friends this year. My family didn't sent any out (they only send card sporadically, so I never expect any from them). Yesterday's mail brought two very unexpected cards from friends overseas - my long-time friend Rose sent me one from the UK, and it was LOVELY, and my long-time jeweler friend Hans and his wife Anne sent me one from the Netherlands. Of course they were immediately added to the mantle. I'll try to take a photo later this week, I need daylight to be able to get the full spread and I leave for the shop in the dark. 

My friend Hans, along with being a very talented fine 
jeweler, also makes these amazing steampunk-inspired 
creatures. He's made them for years now out of copper 
and bronze with jeweled eyes and movable joints. He's 
always creating something new in his "spare" time. 

Today is "Day 3" of my four-day sale. We've had some good sales, but I'm hoping we'll have an excellent two days to wrap things up. We've been quite fortunate, seeing old and dear friends who have been MIA for a while. It's always good to catch up a little bit while selling them supplies to spark their imaginations or enable them to finish a project. 

I do love my swimming, even though the chlorinated 
water isn't good for my skin. The exercise I get is 
unparalleled for excellence, and I don't get bored quite 
as easily as I do on the treadmill, No matter what, though, 
I'm always listening to my latest book. Sometimes that's 
all that gets me moving in the mornings. 

Today is my final swim of 2022. It's bittersweet, in a way, because it's the last swim of the year, but rather silly in another way because I'll be back at the pool next week, starting the New Year out on a good swim. I actually should get a treadmill run in tomorrow, since I work tomorrow. That'll let me end my year on a positive note. 

So, I'm out of here. I hope all of you have a tremendous Thursday and I have every intention of being back here tomorrow for another blog post. In the meanwhile - Slava Ukraini.