Mmmm... steak with mushrooms cooked in cream...

I don't miss driving. I don't miss the stress of trying to second guess the idiots I share the road with. I don't miss prowling for parking and I especially don't miss having to squash down the idea that every time I get behind the wheel it could be a disaster.
Taking the bus is so much better for my peace of mind - and I get an extra hour or so a day to daydream. : )

Joules and I were talking about totem animals - prompted by a very interesting program I saw last night on Pagans - and I reckon I've got more than one. The otter is the primary, of course, but there's also a small raptor (probly a kestrel), and a dragon for when I'm Queen of the World. <g> There's another one, though, small and furry and nesting, that I've never been able to pin down.
'A dormouse.' - says Joules.
'<blink> I think you're right.' - says I.
Small, round, furry tail, likes fruit and sleeping... <g>
Gorgeous wee creatures, dormouses, and in a class of their own - literally!
The Encyclopedia Britannica site had this info:

Dormice are not "true" mice (family Muridae); they are the only members of family Myoxidae, but their relationship to other rodents is not clear. Dormice have been allied with two different major groups: the squirrel-like rodents (suborder Sciuromorpha) and the mouselike rodents (suborder Myomorpha). In reality, the closest living relatives of dormice are unknown...

Cute and unique...

I'm feeling very virtuous at the moment, I've been making small bags out of an old net curtain. I use those instead of the flimsy plastic bags the supermarkets and grocers supply. Yes, they do weigh more than the plastic bags but at 20 grams, or less, which is around 10 cents extra on something that costs $5 a kilo, it's a cost I'll happily wear. I will eliminate unnecessary packaging from my life...

Very pleased with the way my cubs can turn off the telly and walk away when there's nothing they want to watch. I could never do that. Even when I hated the show - Josie and the Pussycats, Scooby Doo, <spitspit> - I never thought to turn the telly off.
Heh, and I've trained my cubs out of the habit of leaving the telly on standby, something I've not managed to do with other members of the household. Grrr... What? Is it too sodding hard to switch the telly on as you walk past it to sit down that you have to use the remote?
Given my druthers, aside from the fridge/freezer and possibly clocks, everything would be switched off at the powerpoint when it's not being used. Naturally, this would mean being able to access the powerpoints...
<g> When I'm eventually in my new house it should be interesting to compare the differences in the electricity usage between there and here. : )

And finally, Joules has finished reviewing FL which means she can start sending it out to publishers. <g> Crossing various appendages...