Freedom

 Sitting on the front porch drinking my coffee this morning with Lila, she is eating and there is not a sound but all the different birds singing this morning.  I had .32" of rain last night and everything is all clean and green.  The flowers are blooming, the birds are singing and having babies and it got me to thinking about what it would be like if we all lived in those 15 minute cities.  We would lose all of this.  To all of you who gave your life so I could have this morning I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

This weekend is not about the pool opening and hot dogs and burgers on the grill but to thank those who made it possible for us to have the pools, hot dogs, and hamburgers.  May we never forget what we have and what we could lose.  

Kittens

 Last night Lila came up and she eats a lot for such a little girl. She laid down and let me do some searching.  I am pretty sure she has babies somewhere cos of all she ate, her nipples are huge and there is no fur around them and she has a floppy stomach.  I need to see if I can find where she has them and rescue all of them.  I did watch her a bit last night and saw the 2 houses she went in between.  I need to be careful and not spook her while following her so she does not move them.  I hope they are safe where they are and wish me luck in capturing all of them.  She was waiting for me when I got up and she has never been up to eat in the morning, so.....

On another note: Blue Bell now has a root beer float flavor. I do love the Dr Pepper float and Bride's Cake, so now I have 3 flavors to choose from when it goes on sale.

Lila

 During the brutal cold spell in January this little girl started showing up eating like no tomorrow.  She sure put on the winter coat.  She has been hanging around with Licorice.  This week she has finally decided to let me pet her and love on her.  The other day I picked her up for just a minute.  I plan on bringing her in and hope it is soon.  She needs a good shaving as all the winter coat is matting up.  She eats like a horse in the evenings.  I have no idea where she came from but she is very young and I need to find out if she is perhaps pregnant or had kittens.  I never did hear her make those noises like when they are heat so.....

I am not sure how BigBoy is going to take to her. He has been an only cat for 1 1/2 years now and enjoys getting me all to himself.  I often wonder if he would like a sibling and then I wonder how he will act.  I guess we will see.  I did bring Smudgey in and he pretty just ignored her.  When I found the little gray tux who was in the house for a couple of weeks he pretty much ignored him as well.  But then he had his buddy Groucho.  

She is a beautiful long hair and very small.  Stay tuned for the Lila saga.  Licorice is still around and when I bring her in he will be out there by himself, maybe someday he will come in too.  But he is going to be tough to get in. These pictures do not justice to how beautiful her coloring is.  Maybe I can get some better picture of her to show it off soon.

Yard

 My irises are starting to bloom, you can smell them when I walk out the front door. Love that smell, too bad they only bloom once.

The Rose of Sharon is starting to leaf out as well as the redbud and mock apple.  My jonquils have all bloomed, another flower I wish bloomed more than once, but alas.  My salvia and meadow sage are blooming.  

The trees are leafing out which means I can not see the neighbors as well to see what they are all up to cos I can not see through the leaves.

The hummingbird and oriole feeder are up. I saw a hummer once and the house finch are finding the grape jelly a good food.

Licorice is still around and is getting a bit closer and now feels comfortable enough to eat off the front porch. Last night he was on the deck waiting for his food.  Maybe one day he will let me pet him.

The neighbor took care of Herman my garter snake, he has now crossed the bridge, so sad cos he did not hurt anything.

Now on to Fred. Fred thinks he is a bird, but nope.  The millet I bought for the Juncos, they are gone now until Winter, but Fred thinks I put it out for him.  He will tip the bowl, spill out some seed and like a Hoover suck up all the millet and leave the safflower  Fred is getting a bit comfy in that he comes up to the kitchen window and looks in when he does not have his millet.  He also will just lay on the deck if I come out the door and do not get too close.  I worry about him cos my neighbor will make sure Fred is with Herman.  (I do NOT approve of him shooting the squirrels but if Fred gets in his yard, I can not stop him).  

6 Years

 6 years ago today we lost Dad Decorah.  Mom literally cried so hard she got hoarse calling him.  She was a trooper and raised the 3 by herself.  Mom has a new dad now and they have moved away so we can not see if she is still having babies.

It was a very snowy day and he had brought in a ton of food.  Then he took off. Many looked for him but never found him.  He did look old and tired that afternoon. Did he know?  He came to tell Mom he loved her and thank her for some amazing years but it was time for him to go.

We will never forget and know he is soaring high waiting for Mom to join him someday.

The Goslings Are Here

 It is that time of year when the geese take that leap of faith with their babies.  6 have hatched as of this morning and we are all glued to the screen wondering when they will take that leap of faith.  I pray they all make it this year.  

And in case you have not heard Mom and DM2 are building N6 closer to the hatchery.  Speculation is they did not have any eggs again this year.  Eagles do like to build nests.

It is Going Nuts

 Look at how much this has shot up in a day.  It is going crazy.

The Sweet Potato Had a Growth Spurt

 

When I was a kid my mom would bake sweet potatoes. We would dig out the middle and smother butter and brown sugar on it.  They were so good.  I can not wait to see what crop I get out of this one. 

20

 Today would have been Groucho's 20th birthday. She was the sweetest girl.  The oldest of my 3 tuxes.  I miss her and so does my tom, they were buddies.

I Have Vines Starting

 The sweet potato is coming along nicely.  Today I noticed some very red vines starting at the bottom.  It does take a lot of water if you are thinking of starting one. It is not too late.  I plant around Memorial Day and Dig around end of September.

We Have Roots

 The sweet potato is putting on roots.  I wonder how many I will get in my crop this year.

Starting the Garden

 One year when I was in grade school we were in Oklahoma City because my dad had a school for a new piece of equipment.  We had science on TV and yes this was in the 60's.  Our science teacher asked us to start a sweet potato and whoever got the longest vine would get a prize.  So my dad of course let me cos we would eventually plant it.  We went back home after my dad's class was over and teacher let me remain in the contest. I was to send a picture when it was over.  So I sent everything in and I won.  I do not remember what the prize was but just winning was enough.

For some reason this afternoon I was thinking about getting my seeds started because we do not plant here til after Mother's Day because we have had snow on Mother's day.  So I had a sweet potato in the fridge and now it is started.  I am going to do some bucket gardening this year.  Next week I am going to start the peppers and tomato.  And who knows what else.

Happy Chocolate Day

 Yes that is right it is Chocolate Day, however tomorrow it will be on sale so I will stock up and put it in the freezer.

It is also Ash Wednesday, hard to believe Easter is only 40 days away, where does the time go, we are already half way through February.

3 years ago Smudgey finally decided she would come in I wonder if she knew her time was drawing near and so she decided to come in and be taken care of.  I had a shelter for her outside in the front flower bed and under the deck plus she always had food and pets.  But she would come in for a minute and then paw at the door to go back out.  But this was a very cold spell in February and I have a feeling she was finally tired of being out in the elements so in she came.  She was inside for 1 1/2 years and she could have been her entire life but ferals live in their own world.  

I love female tuxes they are the sweetest girls.  She was my 3rd one, all sisters of another mother.  I will see you again some day Smudgey girl.

That is Smudgey laying in my big pot and I wonder why I got no asparagus that year.