Part 250 ~ The Adventures of King Ben & Zeus the Big Dumb Dog

If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.

The peace after the Meltdown lasted through the evening. I was able to get a couple of Science pictures before we knew he was gonna go full Meltdown. The others were taken after the peace was made.

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The sky was really pretty around 4:00pm, the four pictures after the Sciencey ones. I should’ve stayed with the time between 4:00-4:30, but I thought the clouds would be lit up by the setting Sun. I spent that time getting my post finished and published. The rest of sunset was okay, but the earlier sky was prettier IMO. Most of the later shots were on the “Pro” setting. The last two pictures show the difference between regular “photo” setting, darkened before taking the picture, and “pro” setting.

After taking the pictures, I edited and Ben hung out in my room with me. He ate a bunch of “orange chicken” and watched his tablet. Daughter brought his meds in at 5:45pm and I ran his bath at 6pm… bubbles were requested by HRH. He played for about a half hour. I’d made the water deep and very warm, hoping it would help relax him and soothe any soreness from the struggles and restraint. After bath he went to bed without problems.

Things, Stuff, and dozing while trying to write an email. I got the email finished and sent and heated up the rest of the soup. I should NOT have finished it. I was feeling full but there was only a little left… like three or four bites. If Zeus had been up, I’d have just given it to him, but he was in bed with Ben. I finished it, and felt TOO full. Then I made it worse by laying down. I was cold, tired, and over full… next was Food Coma, around 11:15pm. I didn’t even take my pills… I was only going to warm up a little and let my tummy settle, THEN take my pills and go to sleep. The Univese and Mr Murphy love it when we make plans.

Then it was 3am and my bed was quaking, my ear was being sniffed, and cold feet were pressing between my calves. I know it was 3am because cold hands tried to snatch my phone and I had to secure it.

Daughter heard The Boys get up, so she got up and came to get Ben. She’d gone to sleep around 9:30 or 10pm. Ben went with Daughter to her room for a while, but he was back with me by 4:30 or 5am. I checked the time, I just don’t remember it.

I got up around 6:15am. I thought about getting up earlier, and looking for Venus, but it was cold, I was tired, and my bed was warm and comfy… even if it was invaded and occasionally quaking. After my pit stop, I went to look at the sky. The palms in the west had a cool looking cloud behind them, so I took a picture. I left the camera open and headed toward the gate, to look east… and saw Georgie and Gracie gliding toward me. Lucky I had the camera ready, I took a couple pictures and said Good Morning to them, and watched them continue west.

I was back and forth a lot. Georgie and Gracie came back, then left, then came back. At one point, I was surprised to see a THIRD gull. I was so surprised I couldn’t get a good picture as Gracie and Gonzo (the name I’ve assigned to the third gull) flew toward me, over me, and continued southwest. Georgie was standing on the roof of the market, watching them go. I asked if Gonzo was an offspring, it was smaller, but Georgie didn’t give any response. He likes it when I tell him he is a beautiful bird, and thank him for visiting. He puffs up a little, and lifts his wings a little. He’s a good watcher too. He stood watch from the market roof while Gracie and some crows were grabbing a quick bite in the alley/street (it’s a small alley that was extended to the cul-de-sac at the south side of the parking lot to make a through street) between the market and the parking lot on the east side of my house. I didn’t only talk to Georgie and Gracie, I talked to the crows too. There’s usually one on the pole or on the tree across the alley who talks back to me. I call it “Squawking Up The Sun” and usually tell the crow that their song is lovely. I have no idea if it’s the same crow. There are a LOT of crows, and they are always around.

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During all of my back and forth and chatting with the birds, Daughter and Ben were in the living room. They were just hanging out, under blankets, waiting for GLYSB time. He’d uncovered Sven at some point and turned his lights on. Sven was hiding in his house, so I let him be. He actually stayed in his house all day. He’s probably in partial brumation mode from the cool weather. I wish I could just sleep for a while whenever I felt like it.

The GLYSB was almost ten minutes late, but it did arrive, and Happy Dancing followed. It was subdued Happy Dancing cuz my tummy was still VERY unhappy about the soup. I only had one cup of coffee this morning cuz my tummy was feeling yucky. I have GERD (Gastro-Esophogeal Reflux Disease) and a hiatal hernia, so laying down after eating was phenomenally stupid of me!

After Dancing was tater peeling and slicing. I put the taters in cold water and got Horizontal for a little while. I’d been awake pretty much since 3am, up moving around since 6:15am, and it was only 8am, but I was ready for a break.

After a half hour Horizontal Time, I got up and made the sauce, cleaned the dusty crock pot, and got the Cheesy Taters started. I’ve never made them in the crock pot, so this is an experiment. I usually dump a bunch of cheddar in the sauce too, but I didn’t do that this time. I layered taters, sauce, cheese, taters, sauce, cheese… etc. Making a “Thanksgiving Dinner” without a working oven calls for creative cooking. Anyway, the taters were all set in the pot, the heat was set to high, and I was done with my part of the meal.

Daughter put the bird in the electric roaster around 10am. She planned on everything being ready around 3pm. I told her she should have pizza or something for Ben when he gets home. I think part of yesterday’s Meltdown was being Hangry.

I spent most of the GLYSB time on WP, reading or writing this post. The Turkey cooked great in the electric roaster. The taters in the crock pot were cooking, but much slower than anticipated. I think I cut them too thick. Ben got home at 1:46pm… very early. I gave him the Ladybug costume and he started stripping off all his clothes. It’s a one piece bodysuit that covers hands and feet too. He’s adorable. Daughter made him a half pizza right after he got home and we just pulled the top half of the costume down while he sat on the couch and ate… keep the hand part clean-ish… for now, anyway.

I texted Younger to see if she and Partner were going to come eat food, and she texted back that they were running errands and she’d call me when they were done. I texted that the Taters were cooking slower than anticipated, and it would be closer to 4pm than 3pm before the food was ALL ready. It’s our “Thanksgiving”, but it’s mostly just “eat Turkey and Cheesy Taters and Stuffing and Green Bean Casserole Day”. Ben already ate his pizza. Maybe we can get him to try turkey this year.

The food is all done, and Older Daughter has already started eating. She said everything is good, even the Crock Pot Cheesy Taters. Ben has eaten three of the four pieces of pizza, and is happily playing with his stuff. It’s almost time for me to commune with Nature and watch sunset. The rest of the evening will be about relaxing and eating.

Since we cooked our “Thanksgiving” turkey today, we need a Thankful Song, yes?

Thank you for stopping by and spending Casa Cuckoo Thanksgiving with us! We have proven that an entire Thanksgiving meal can be cooked without a working oven. Our day started WAY too early, but we have nothing to do tonight or tomorrow except eat leftovers, and wait for my new Coffee Dragon to arrive. Come by tomorrow and have fresh coffee, or Sweet Tea or flavored herbal hot tea, or black hot tea… or water, soda… whatever! And lots of leftovers… I’m sure Ladybug will be here to fight any “bad guys”. Who knows who else might show up, or what else might happen?! We’ll have some Adventures, and laughter… always laughter. ¡Hasta mañana!

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HUGS!

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