Some Flowers and Cats and Stuff

I'm actually cooking today. What the heck is up with that? I cooked once last week too, I made meatloaf for Keith and it came out really good or so he said. I don't much care for meatloaf but I choked some down and it wasn't too bad. For meatloaf anyway. Keith likes meatloaf to where he will actually order it when he is out to eat. Unthinkable as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, today I'm trying a recipe for creamy corn soup with crisp bacon. The recipe is easy enough, just saute some onion in butter, then corn, carrots and celery gets sauteed in the onion butter for about 10 minutes, then add some milk and chicken broth and cook for a while, then you are supposed to use an immersion blender to blend it all up. Which I don't have but you can use a regular blender, too. You just have to blend it up a little at a time, finding something to put the blended soup in while you are blending the rest of it. Or whatever, we will see how it tastes. The crispy bacon part is a garnish on top and I've even already cooked the bacon, something I really hate doing because you have to cook it long and slow to crisp it up and I'm more of a hurry up and get crispy already sort of person. Not much patience in the kitchen.

Today I've also cleaned cat boxes, vacuumed the house, grocery shopped, and shopped for new dishes. I did get some new dishes but more on that later because it is kind of a long story. I also shopped for new clothes this week, also a long (and sweaty) story.

It is hot here this weekend, yesterday we broke an almost 100 year old record, getting up to 93. Geez. It really didn't seem that hot to me because I had all the ceiling fans in the house going and our dark screens help keep things cool.

So, flowers. Our flower beds have been going crazy so far this spring with absolutely no effort on our part, I haven't even watered them yet, the few rains we had being enough for now. All of the flowers that we planted last spring have come back bigger and better and it's really colorful outside. The lavender that I planted in the back yard that almost died over the winter is in full bloom and the bees love it.

This is the backyard flower bed and I can't remember what the yellow flower vine is, kind of like a small rose, but boy, is it pretty this year! Last year it didn't bloom all that much and they didn't last long, but this year every branch is covered in little flowers.

The front yard flower beds are also looking quite good this year.

We got the cats some new cat stands, the cheap one we got at Walmart being almost unusable for them and looking really shabby. Whoever designed it didn't try it out on cats, they had a hard time getting from one level to the next and the covering on the scratching posts only lasted a few minutes it seemed like. We got shorter easier to move around ones this time and everybody seems to really enjoy them, even the dog was sniffing around.

The one that Bear is on seems to be the most popular, perhaps because it is right by the sliding door and gets lots of sunshine. It has another flat platform a little lower and usually somebody else is laying on that one. The oval shape is perfect for our big fat cats.

Cats Sleeping in Strange Places

Before I get to the cats sleeping in strange places, something any cat parent is used to, I went out front to feed Lucy this morning at 6 am, still not quite light outside, and she is looking across the street as I'm pouring food into her bowl. I think that maybe one of the strays is hanging out over there, just waiting for an opportunity to come over and steal her food, but when I look over there it's not a cat but a big tree branch on the ground, and when did that happen?

I had a bit of deja vu feeling, remembering when our tree came crashing down in the wind just as I happened to look out of the front window. This one doesn't look as bad as our tree did, but many of these trees on our street have either been hit by lightning (once) or had winds knock them down. They just get too top heavy if they aren't regularly trimmed. They are pretty in the spring, though, when covered with white blossoms.

I guess she must have heard or seen the branch fall because she kept looking and looking over there, taking a bite of food and then looking again. Much like any cat that comes across something out of place I guess. Sometimes it's kind of fun to watch them when you move something around in the house. They are all like um, what?

Now, for the cats. Aren't you excited? Or maybe these pictures will just make you want to take a nap.

 Buddy is sleeping against the bottom of our metal candle holder. This does not look comfortable to me.

And Mimi flops just wherever, like halfway between the bedroom and the hallway.

Speaking of Cats

Sleeping in strange places.

I don't know why Mimi chose to sleep exactly in between the chair legs, but she must have felt safe with her back end squished up against one leg and her front end against the other.