Category Archives: real world

An Unexpected Use of Braids

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Hello, Fluffsters! Happy Monday!

My week is still looking pretty busy right now, but I’m going to try to write these Fluffs.

I did discover something, though.

Braids can be used in unexpected ways.

For example, I’ve recently been doing some hot, sweaty stuff that requires the frequent use of a pencil… That means that I’ve been using this hairstyle. The best part is that I can slide a pencil into one of the side braids. It then doesn’t get lost, and it’s there for when I need it. Pretty nice, right?

Braids are also great for getting hair off the back of your neck… mostly. Sometimes if you roll the braid into a bun, it will end up sort of at the top of your neck. It’s usually a lot less hot than if the hair were down, though. And braid height can be adjusted.

So, pencils. And pens, I guess. That’s my unexpected use of a braid… How about you? Do you put spikes into your braid so that it can be turned into a weapon? Or do you store a sword in there? Or do you do something completely different? (Maybe use it as a paint brush?) I’d love to hear about any unexpected uses of braids that you do!

3 rabbits picture

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Hello, Fluffsters! Yes, I’m back. At least temporarily. After Fluffy wrote about Hairless Cats for a “fluffy animals” series, I realized I’d reached the limits…

So today’s post is short, but at least it’s written by me.

I saw these fine fluffy fellows yesterday morning, and so I took a picture. Aren’t they cute?

3 cute bunnies by a building

Three Cute Rabbits

Happy Sunday!

Fluffy Animals: Hairless Cats

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Hello, Fluffsters… The Webmaster still hasn’t shown up, and so I guess I’m going to need to take drastic measures and write a post about something she’ll dislike.

Hairless Cats.

That’s right, hairless cats.

Now, you probably don’t normally think of them as fluffy, but you se-

Error: The Webmaster has deleted the rest of this post.

Wait… So I’m not allowed to delete posts, but you are?

Yup. My blog, my rules. That was a lousy topic. But I’m too busy to write a new post right now, so I’m afraid I’m going to need to leave it like this.

Happy Saturday, Fluffsters!

…Yeah. You’d think that if she showed up, she could at least do something useful. Oh well. Happy Saturday!

Fluffy Animals: Cows

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Really? Three days in a row that The Webmaster hasn’t written a post? Well, I can’t pass this up.

Unfortunately, my stock of unexpectedly fluffy animals is about dry. I guess this means I’ll need to go with more conventionally fluffy animals:

Cows

Yes, cows. I might have done something on a platypus, but there aren’t any photos of them on this website.

So cows.

1) They can be very furry. The one photo this website has is of a particularly furry calf. It’s rather charming, actually.

Furry Cow

Isn’t the cow cute?

This is apparently a Highland Cow.

Highland cows are native to some of the colder regions of your world. They have fluff, though, and therefore qualify as a fluffy animal.

2) Cows give whipped cream. After a process, of course, which involves shaking the cow a lot before milking it.*

3) Similarly, if you freeze a cow before milking it, you get ice cream. If you shake the frozen cow, you get a milkshake.**

*Please don’t actually shake your cow before milking it.

**Please don’t do these either.

4) If you can lift a cow daily from the time it is born you will be able to lift a cow. That is the truth. It might be a miniature cow. It might be a stuffed cow. But if you lift it, you can lift it.

5) Cows are fairly boring. Especially when they charge at you. Have you seen how sharp their horns can be? They can bore a hole right through you!

And so, Fluffsters, I hope you have a wonderful day.

Fluffy Animals: Skunks

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Huh. It looks like the Webmaster still isn’t writing the post. I guess I’ll take over again.

I guess this does give me a bit of an opportunity to continue the odd-animal portion of her fluffy animals series. So…

Fluffy Animals: Skunks

I think that everyone will even agree with me that these animals are fluffy.

A cute looking skunk

Isn’t he cute?

So, here we go.

1) Skunks are fluffy. I think nobody can deny this. They’ve got long fur, and it looks nice, thick, and soft. I think Peeves might be jealous. The fur helps them survive the winter months in comfort. The dark in their fur helps them blend in at night, while the white helps them not become roadkill. Or so I understand.

2) Even with their distinctive markings, skunks still confuse people. I know that there are people who think skunks are a type of cat. Furthermore, some cats think skunks are a type of cat. I heard about a cat that once was very interested in a skunk… Clearly not the brightest of all cats.

3) Wild dogs only need to be sprayed by a skunk once. Afterwords, the animal will steer clear of all skunks in the future. I know that some folks complain about domesticated dogs not learning. There’s a simple reason for that- domesticated dogs still get fed after getting sprayed. In the wild, the stench prevents the canine from catching anything. So not only does the dog smell bad, it also goes hungry until the scent wears off. Aren’t skunks amazing?

4) If their scent is removed, skunks make great pets. I’m not too surprised. A picture demonstrates why- skunks just look so cheerful with people.

A skunk about to jump off of a perch

I wonder where he wants to go…

Doesn’t the little one up there look a bit puppyish or catlike?

5) Skunks show up in more full-length Disney movies than duck-billed platypuses. According to what I was able to find. Finally, a mark in favor of the universally disliked skunks!

Happy Wednesday, Fluffsters!

Fluffy Animals: Porcupines

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Do I believe my eyes? Have I actually started a new post before the Webmaster? Fantastic!

Well, Fluffsters, happy Tuesday! I hope you’re having an excellent week. Due to the Webmaster’s absence, probably due to her continuing vacation, I will be infiltrating her post today. And so, here’s a post about:

Fluffy Animals: Porcupines.

 

Yes, you read that correctly.

Now, granted, porcupines are not the traditional “fluffy animal.” I think that’s a pity. From what I have read, they are quite charming animals, really!

A fluffy porcupine eating a carrot.

Look at the porcupine eating a carrot. Isn’t that darling?

Ok, so if you pet them it’s a problem. But here are some reasons why they are awesome:

1) Their fluff is dangerous. How cool is that? They can prance along, humming gently to themselves, looking adorable, and have an automatic defense system built in! Sweet, huh? It just proves that fluff doesn’t have to be useless.

(No, I’m not trying to prove a point to the Webmaster… What makes you say that?)

2) They live in trees. Seriously. Porcupines live in trees. I don’t know if I can repeat that often enough. Who would have expected that? So, not only do they have spiky fluff (unlike many mammals), they also live in trees. It’s as though they went out of their way to protect themselves. Point two for fluff not being useless! (But who’s keeping track?)

3) They’re happy critters. Of course, if your fluff is dangerous, and you live in a blinkin’ tree, what do you have to be upset about?

Happy looking prancing porcupine.

4) Porcupines are fun in any form. Especially real life, but also in crochet form. I mean, isn’t that amusing? (And aren’t they clearly fluffy?)

5) Carrots are a porcupine’s best friend. That get eaten, and then are gone. So clearly they are not best friends forever, but they still look so cheerful together!

 

Cheerful looking porcupine eating a carrot.

6) Despite their terrifying fluff, porcupines are (mostly) harmless. After all, they are not carnivores. That’s right, your little kitties are possible more dangerous than a pet porcupine. You never hear or read about people feeding mice to their pet porcupines, do you? Clearly, then, they are significantly less deadly to small rodents.

And so, Fluffsters, I wish you a joyous Tuesday.

Fluffy Animals: Kitties!

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Hello, Fluffsters! And welcome back to today’s edition of Fluffy Animals!

Oh goody. I’m soo thrilled.

Oh, good! I’m glad somebody is.

Why do I even try sarcasm. Why do I even try?

Today’s Fluffy Animal post is…

Kitties!

Yes, what kind of blog about fluff would this be if I didn’t have a post devoted to man’s worst enemy, the cat?

… Worst enemy? Really?

…Yes?

I mean, think about it. You see articles and books on how to tell if your cat is trying to kill you. You don’t see that sort of thing with dogs.

But I digress.

Information about kitties

1) They are cute. Especially when younger. After all, the only problem with kittens is that they eventually turn into cats.

Cute kitten which will, alas, turn into a cat.

Cute kitten!

2) They are useful for rodent control. Of course, if you love rodents, this is another problem. You wouldn’t want your kitten to kill a Marmot, would you?

3) Intelligence of conversation decreases as a kitten gets closer. XKCD says so, and they wouldn’t lie to us, right?

So, there you go! Happy Monday.

Seriously? That’s it?

It’s after midnight my time as I’m writing this, and I’m getting up too early my time tomorrow, which is when this is going to be posted. So, yes. I’m not responsible-

-Boy is that ever true-

-for the rest of this post. You can write more, I suppose…

All right, I will!

After all, you left out some of the best parts.

Fluffy’s perspectives on Kitties

1) They are awesome carnivores. Unlike dogs, they don’t eat carrots. At least, normal cats don’t.

2) They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. I kid you not. There are huge cats, medium sized cats, and very small cats.

3) Some cats are celebrities. Take Grumpy Cat, for example. I’m sure you’ve heard of him her. (Can you really believe that Grumpy Cat is female? That just seems very odd. She looks like she should be male.) Or Nyan Cat.

4) Some “wildcats” are extremely cute. In fact, I’m not sure whether Ocelots and Horpadies might actually share some sort of purpose in life- being really cute and deadly at the same time.

And that is a much more reasonable fluff post- don’t you agree? I fully realize that I left many details about cats uncovered, but I think it’s still significantly better than how the Webmaster was originally going to leave it.

Fluffy Animals: Marmots

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Hello, Fluffsters!

So, I’m still on vacation. And I still found internet! Yay!

Today is Sunday, so I’m going to start another new series: Animals. More to the point, fluffy animals. (Lizards are right out. So are hairless cats. Eww.)

So today, I’m going to be talking a bit about…

Marmots.

Marmots are really cute. They’re a small rodent, and they’re all over the place in Rocky Mountain National Park. (At least, I think they’re marmots.)

I got a few photos.

A small rodent from rocky mountain national park perching on a rock

Marmot on a Rock

So, I can’t quite get my camera to cooperate and focus on the nearby things. Sorry about that. The rocks and grass in the background are quite lovely though, aren’t they?

A rather chubby looking smaller rodent in a colorado national park

This fella was big.

This picture turned out better!

But anyways. Here’s a bit of information about marmots.

1) My first introduction to them was through fiction. Wolf-Speaker by Tamora Pierce is still one of my favorite books. It’s number 2 in a quartet of books, so you can’t just start with it. (The first one is Wild Magic. Have I mentioned I like fantasy?)

You know, I think you may have gone a week without mentioning that fact! How remarkable!

Hmpf.

And the quartet is something like the 2nd or 3rd quartet of books in this particular universe, but I think you can probably start with it anyways. But yeah, there’s a marmot in that book. I don’t quite remember her name, but I do remember wondering whether marmots were even real.

2) They are fairly cute. They’re small, furry, and dark colored. I was unable to get too close to any marmot, but they were adorable from a distance.An adorable marmot in the distance.

They were especially cute when they would run around. They seemed to just boing along.

3) Marmots have a shorter wikipedia article than unicorns do. It’s true. Look at the article about marmots, then look at the article on unicorns. There’s clearly a difference in length. So what is this? Discrimination against real animals? Dscrimination against rodents? Anti-discrimination against fictional animals…?

4) Groundhogs are a subspecies of marmot. Fact. Thus sayeth the wikipedia, and so it must therefore be true, right?

So, what information do you know about marmots? Or do you have any fluffy animals you’d like me to highlight?

Happy Sunday!

Things Concerning Cookies: Cookies with Nuts

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Hello, Fluffsters! Yes, I’m still on vacation. But I found internet! Isn’t that exciting? This means that once more, Fluffy cannot delete this post!

Want to bet?

Given that you’re going to be deleted if you delete one of my posts? Sure.

Fine. You win. Again.

Thank you. So, Happy Saturday!

Here are some cookies people make with nuts.

Alright, so it’s a slight change from the previous entries this week. But it still relates to cookies, right? So… here we go.

1) Russian Tea Cakes / Mexican Wedding Cakes. This are amazing. It’s a combination of nuts (your choice), butter, and powdered sugar. LOTS of powdered sugar. They’re really good, and you should look up the recipe at some point.

2) Chocolate Chip Cookies with nuts. These actually are not my favorite. There are few things ruined more by nuts than chocolate chip cookies. So, please don’t ruin your lovely chocolate chip cookies with nuts. Almost all humanity will thank you for this.

3) Brownies. They are not cookies, but it’s similar to the chocolate chip cookies. There are very few recipes that actually work well with nuts. So please, even if the recipe calls for nuts, don’t do it.

4) White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies. These are actually good. The macadamias add a nice contrast to the dough and the sweetness. You have my full permission to make these. They also don’t masquerade as good cookies. They are what they are supposed to be.

So, there you go. Four types of cookies that have nuts with them.

Happy Saturday!

Things to do concerning Cookies: Samoas.

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Hello, Fluffsters! Happy Thursday!

Yes, today’s going to be another cookie day. Another Girl Scout Cookie day, even. But that’s alright, because Samoas are probably my favorite type of cookie. So…

Here are some things you can do that relate to the Girl Scout cookies Samoas.

1) Eat them. Obviously. For those unfortunates out there who haven’t had them, here’s a basic description of a samoa. It’s doughnut shaped. (A very small doughnut, of course.) It’s got sortof a thin plain cookie base. And then on top of it is a layer of caramel, mixed with shredded coconut, chocolate, and covered in even more caramel and chocolate. In other words, pure amazingness. So yeah. Eating them is a very good choice.

2) Dip them in your coffee. And then eat them. (You can pull through my reasoning for point 1.)

3) Freeze them. And then eat them. If you’ve never had a frozen samoa, you’re missing out. Seriously, you need to try one. Careful not to chip a tooth- frozen caramel and coconut and chocolate and cookie all mixed together can be surprisingly hard. But all the same, it’s totally worth it. In fact, you might even want to try this if you’ve got a little one who’s got a loose tooth! What better way to lose the loose tooth than by eating a cookie? (And a Samoa, at that!)

4) Put the box on display for all to admire. My family & I, at least, would totally admire them you lucky person, you.

5) Dress up like one. Seriously, it’s a thing. It’s primarily used by younger girls who are trying to sell them (last time I checked, anyways) but it’s still pretty cool. And amazing. And worthwhile. And I’m rambling here, aren’t I?

Well, anyways, have a great rest of your week! If I missed anything you can do that relates to samoas, please let me know in the comments below!