Pictures Inside and Out

I took this picture on Sept 22nd to show how the rose bush out front grows like crazy. This branch is reaching the wire that hooks to our roof. I took this picture today (Sept 28th) and I'm amazed at how much it's grown in less than a week. We clip this regularly.
Apparently the former owner kept the rose bush very small, but in the next picture you'll see why we like letting the rose bush get bushy, pun intended. When it is in bloom, it's gorgeous!

Last night I looked up from the loveseat recliner and saw Alex in his Crow's Nest. All I could see were three white paws and part of his ear by the paw on the right!

He eventually got down and decided to explore the windowsill. This would be okay if he wasn't 21 lbs and rather uncoordinated. Mowry knows right where the breaks are between the curtains. We have to help Alex out most of the time. Luckily, Alex doesn't do this often.

Mow is looking outside from the sunroom because Ginger Snap, the white kitten from next door, was in our yard.

Our neighbor told me Saturday that she had MANY tomatoes and would bring some by on Sunday. I wasn't sure if we'd see any because we've had other neighbors (in other places) ask if we wanted something, and then never show up. Margaret didn't forget! Last night she brought over this tub of tomatoes! Thank you, Margaret!!! The soda can is in the picture to show the size of the bowl. We'll share some today when we go to our friends' parents' for Yom Kippur "break the fast".

Speaking of Yom Kippur, I'm not particularly observant, but I don't do work, although I am at my computer typing this. It always seems like someone needs some work done, but while I may or may not choose to explain why I'm not working, I don't work. It can wait until tomorrow.

Can someone tell me why Mowry is meowing? Maybe he was trying to tattletale on his brother Ziggy who jumped off the kitchen table as I entered the kitchen.

Cats and Plants and Things (even some knitting)

I came across a black scarf I had started, and I decided to work on it again. This yarn is very nice, and it looks much better in person than in this photograph.
It's 5:40 pm and it's just under 90 degrees. What happend to my 72 degrees 24/7?

I was very excited when this plant reached the top of the brick wall.
And then when it grew over the wall.

Look at it today!
I cut back the Peony plant because the leaves were all dead. The leaves are starting to grow back.


Here's a close up of the Peony leaves.I put out some water for the cats. Tabby came running over for a drink. He usually avoids me and other humans.

Last night Ziggy was on the floor and Mow settled close to him without any panics.
I love this picture of Mow's tail and Alex's tail overlapped. It's been posted here before, but it was time to post it again.
Happy healthy new year to those who read this and are observing Yom Kippur.

It's NOT about knitting....

Lately I'm not that into knitting. I need a new project to get me there.

Today we went to garage sales and it appears that garage season is just about over. Just as I declared that, we went to "just one more" and I found a GREAT office chair for myself. I haven't liked my old chair because it was Will's and he's much bigger than I am, so it was always too big, not to mention too big for the office space.

A few days ago I had just mentioned to Will that I did not like my chair because it is too big, even though I've been using it for years and years!


This is the new chair. They were asking $25 and Will asked if they would take $20. PERFECT! I am actually not sitting on my legs like a gymnast any more, and there is far more room in the office. I didn't even think about the difference a smaller chair would make on our shared home office space!!!
The Farmers' Market was gross today. Now I remember why I stopped going to them. Besides the young child of about 8 who thought she needed to pick up every brussel sprout with her kid hands, there was the slob of a woman who just threw her peach sample on the ground in front of me. People are disgusting. Yes, I will wash my produce, but what kind of people think it is okay to be a complete slob in public with food that others will be buying?

Maybe if we go earlier before the lazy, low life, oblivious, slobs show up. Did I mention that both incidents I cite above, perhaps, learned this unacceptable behavior on their home planet, er country? Maybe in other countries it is acceptable to behave in this manner. YUCK.

TGIF!

Just when I think Mowry has found the most unusual position in which to sleep, I find him in yet another. How can he be comfortable?
He was just becoming aware of me, but he really was asleep! Those little itty bitty green things growing in this pot are my carrot seedlings! The tomato cage is to keep the kittens from thinking it is yet another litter box! The green is starting to look like carrot tops.

Ziggy is actually watching Will use the bathroom. Apparently it is fascinating. Note the water is running from the faucet for Ziggy to drink, but he found something far more interesting!

Who is this? I've never seen this cat in our yard before. It is either one of the cats next door - counting the kittens they now have 6, and we haven't seen two of the 6 - or it's one of the two cats who lives next door to them! Then again, if it's an unneutered male, it could be the cat responsible for the kittens, but my guess is that it's from next door or two doors down. Cute kitty! The kitty ran when I approached so we know it's a real cat!

The kitten is intrigued with the magnolia leaf and the pineapple guava.

MMMMMMMMMMM. Just got back from a nice Chinese dinner with Ken and Diann. We were going to make a salad and grab a homemade tamale from the local grocery store, but they were out! Drats! We rarely go out to dinner, but when the tamales were gone, Will decided he wanted Thai or Chinese food so we called Ken and Diann. It's so nice to have friends who are game for last minute ideas. Everything was delicious. We were the only Caucasions in the place, so you know it was Chinese endorsed! And best of all, we have leftovers tomorrow - steamed rice (not so hard to make, but now I don't have to), dried string beans and beef (usually it's just the beans), and walnut shrimp. If necessary, I'll make a salad to go with it.

Kittens and Outdoors

It's a warm 83 degrees outside, so I put water under the kitten bush for them. They have access to their house, but if they are hanging out here, I like them to have water here.

It's 75 in Ocean Shores, WA and it snowed in Castle Rock, CO yesterday. Our weather sure varies! It's supposed to get HOT today, and this isn't the hottest time of the day, so it may still get hotter.Check out the white paw on the brick! She still has a kitten face, but the tabby looks more like a cat. I'm posing, or maybe I'm just hiding.It's hard to photograph cats, especially more than one. Note the tabby, (who I call "Tabby") on the move, while Lily hangs out under the bush.Remember what we looked like at a few weeks old?

I finally got a good picture of Tabby. He not only blends in with the dirt, but he likes to hide.

Tabby is hiding behind the white kitten. Can you see him?

I'm picking pineapple guavas up from the ground as they drop and saving them for the produce exchange on Sunday. I'm excited to have something to contribute besides my neighbor's lemons!

Will did a huge chopping of the rose bush a couple of weeks ago, but as you can see, we have branches growing like mad - higher than the wire to the roof.

We have a ground squirrel or gopher or something out back. This is yet another reason I'm glad we don't have lawn back there.

Sunday

We had a lovely Rosh Hashana dinner at our friends' last night. Thank you for including us in your family celebration. I wish I had some of the wonderful deserts right now!


In years past I've picked up 100 pineapple guavas at a time from the ground. Last year someone on Fremont Freecyle posted asking for them, so I gave her a bag full. Today I brought two strawberry basketfulls to the produce exchange.

Today someone at the produce exchange gave away this peach angel trumpet plant. I'm trying it in a pot for now, but I think it will grow too big for this. Hmm, I just read that all parts of the plant are poisonous if ingested. What's up with that?

I'm thinking again of getting rid of this geranium. It's quite pretty when in full bloom, but a mess the rest of the time. There are so many dead branches inside, and it's growing from a small pot. I think the new plant might be perfect here.

Here's a bigger view of the yard - to the left of the wing against the fence is the geranium, and to the right in a pot is the new plant.These little biddy plants are the carrots coming up from the seeds I planted a few weeks ago. The metal is a tomato cage to keep the kittens out.It's hot today, but not as hot as predicted. Mowry keeps cool on the entryway tile. He blends in with it! Notice the baldspot on his pack leg. We're watching that closely. If the weather gets as hot as predicted this week I may lie on the floor next to Mowry. Or I may take my laptop and go to a coffee shop with Wi-fi (preferably a local one or Peet's and not Big Bucks). There's no glory in working at home when the temperatures get too hot in the office. We normally don't need A/C where we live, but those rare days when we do, it's very uncomfortable.
Today we tried to go to the Farmers' Market but parking was bad and we left after one try. Then later on we went to the local Depot Days celebration at the train station, but it was very small and there was a 'band' playing country/blueglass music. I won't listen to country music, so we left.

Will is watching football and baseball. We love the "last" button on the remote. The 49ers were winning, and the Dodgers were beating the Giants. It's a great day for America, everyone!

Speaking of that, I wonder why The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson had reruns last week? They were recent reruns, too. The show just started in HD on 8/31/09, so their library of shows is small, but something's going on there......

It's HOT!

It's been a tradition for as long as I can remember for the weather to get HOT for the Jewish High Holidays. This year is no exception, although there have been a few. It's going to cool down a little tomorrow and then get REALLY hot starting on Sunday.

It was 92 earlier, and is 79 right now at 7:40 pm. Is it possible that it rained just 4 days ago? Maybe it was a dream, but wait, I have pictures on this blog of the rainbow and temporary damage to my plant caused by the rain.

Look at the huge spider we saw hanging from a street sign last night on our walk. Mowry was called an "excessive groomer" by his vet because his belly is licked clean of fur. Now he's been licking his hind leg. We're afraid he'll be a hairless cat if he keeps this up. See the little patch of baldness on his upper leg?

Happy Healthy New Year to all who celebrate.

Rain on September 14th! UPDATED at 6:10 pm

What a way to start a Monday, with a rainbow over our house! And yes, that's an airplane going right thru the rainbow!

Who knew when I closed the window at about 5:00 am this morning that I'd miss a lot of rain! Look at my beautiful brown fountain plant! It looks like it's been trampled. There must have been more rain than I thought. That's Lilly walking by.

The white kitten thinks it's a cool place to hang out!

UPDATED AT 6:00 PM - the next two pictures only: the plant started coming back earlier in the day.....

and by 4:00 pm it was back! I'm glad. I wasn't sure it would survive the trampling by rain without me having to cut it back.

The tabby kitten is very shy!Oh, there he is! What a beauty!

Mow on his rocker in the sunroom. It's better than being "off his rocker". Notice the lovely brown double-pile carpet by his head. That used to be the carpet throughout the house until we ripped it to reveal lovely wood floors.