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Stupid Winter

We were enoying a perfectly nice early spring... see the lovely green shoots of the irises and daffs?


And then this:


Bleh.

Saturday cat blogging

Here's a couple of pics of our friend Wes' cats. This lovely full figured lady is Miss Lola, aka Chubina. She is one of the most personable cats I have ever known.


And this is Nancy. She is Tuck's sister and my goodness she looks just like him - she's just calico where he was black. Girl is half wild too, tho Tuck was about as domesticated as it gets.


A crocus started blooming out front today and a single daffodil has opened (very early for it), looks like spring is starting.

Lazy Sunday

It's a grey day in the PNW, starting with this grey lady who showed up yesterday. She came wandering down the driveway and was very hungry. She's currently living in the back bedroom until we can find her a home or her owner (tho I suspect she was dumped). She's a tiny little thing, and sweet as can be.


Iris reticulata 'Katerine Hodgkin' is opening. Unfortunately slugs got to the blooms before they could even finish opening. Argh.


Beach pebbles and the grey day itself.

Fresh pics

I feel sorry for you folks on the other side of the Rockies getting hammered with winter, but sure glad I'm not there. We had a lovely day here. Started off cold but warmed by lunchtime to the upper 40's with lots of sunshine. Daniel and I took off early and went for a much needed walk after we got home. The bearded irises are showing signs of new growth:


Noticed a little reticulata iris getting ready to bloom. This is my favorite - 'Katherine Hodgkin'


Found a hellebore blooming along the drive:


Here's our destination - a nearby road with a mountain view. We both felt so much better after this nice ramble brought us this panorama: [click to embiggen!]


I've been trying forever to get a shot of Junebug's amazing tail - today I got three. It is like a huge feather boa that follows him around. It's fabulous. Check it:






Kittenpants!

This last shot was taken on the porch. I've been trying to get him to go out for short periods and get used to what the outside is like so he is comfortable come spring when we are all outside as much as possible.

A spate of nice weather has allowed us to be outside this weekend. Always welcome this time of year. Nothing new in the garden to share, so here's some pics of cats. This is 3 quarters of the Russian Mob, the nickname for our friends Kevin & Adam's cats. This is Nickolai, Nimon and Boris. Ivan was on the other couch.


We had a great time hanging out, playing games and eating dinner. Here's the wall of art out in the shop where the dart board is.


The sun is finally up enough to create some sunsets for us again. The trees sure are getting tall around us.

Cat blogging...

I've been working outside but nothing worth photographing for the blog, so here's a few cat pics.

Miss Gracie in all her woolley splendor.


Mr. Junebug, whose own coat is filling out beautifully.




Here's a closer shot of that xmas cactus in the background. It is a light red over a pale yellow giving an apricot effect. Love it.

Not much doin' here for the new year. Lots of cold weather. We had several days below freezing and you can see where the shadow of the house falls in the frost pattern in the back yard. After several nights it got so thick it looked like snow.


It was especially pretty on the sempervivums.


And the heuchera...


Daniel and I are eating primal for awhile to shed some pounds. Made a primal pizza last night - the crust is made from almond flour. Needs more experimenting.


And finally the official portrait of Her Royal Highness Princess Gracie Von Grumpus. I can't believe I got such a good shot. Click for larger.

Happy Boxing Day!

I got nothin' for xmas pics. Not much to see this year. We did without a tree because of Mr. Kittenpants. Had a great holiday tho. here's what I do have - a whole lot of layin' around...


After being told 25 times to stop biting this or that he finally went to sleep on the desk.

Another fabulous Thanksgiving

I love hosting Thanksgiving and having friends over. Look at the beautiful centerpiece Daniel put together.


And here's the apple pie I made.


And a really bad shot of dinner (what can I say - food was ready!).


We had:

roasted turkey breast & thighs
roasted pork loin with huckleberry and pepper glaze
green bean casserole (all from scratch)
classic white bread stuffing
sweet potato souffle
mashed potatoes and gravy
butter flake rolls and potato rolls
pumpkin pie (2)
apple pie
pecan pie
plenty of great wine

About one third of that got eaten - yay leftovers!

Guests were:

Joey and Wes
Terry
Dixie
Kristen (a friend of Joey's from class, and nw our friend too)

We had a fabulous time hanging out and eating with everyone. Hope your turkey day was as good.

Whole lotta sleepin' goin' on..

Nothing but sleepin' going on around here.


Look how woolly Miss Gracie is! I am always amazed


Mr. Petey has been sick for aweek now. Poor baby...


Here's why everyone is so tie-tie. Yep, snow arrived. We had not even had a hard frost yet when this showed up Monday.


Dropped about 4 inches on us and then cleared off and got really cold. Should leave on Turkey Day with rain again with temps back up in the forties. Forecast say this is going to be the coldest, snowiest winter since 1955. All that La Nina's fault, hanging out in the south pacific and messing up my season.

A few fall pics...

I'm slowly getting new beds together in the courtyard. The two here are now joined by a third. Another long one to go on the far side and they're done.


A shot form last year of Miss Gracie (aka The Grumpus). We are constantly amazed at the variety of colors in her coat.




Junebug is at his sweetest when he's asleep. He is growing so fast and is nothing but trouble. Good thing he is so cute.

A few recent pics...

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Rainy days

A tryptich of cats...