No Fluff

We're heading off to have breakfast with Matthew this morning, and so I don't have much time to write. Besides...I don't really have much to tell you, but I do have pictures. You'd be disappointed if there were no pictures, wouldn't you? We were supposed to go walking with Matthew too, but our crappy weather continues. I've always said that summer doesn't really arrive in this part of the world until after the 4th of July, and I take no pleasure in being proven right year after miserable weather year. So anyway...here goes with the pictures and no-fluff writing. (Trying to control my verbosity for a change.)

Sadie was enjoying a nap on the catio in the warm (and rare moment of) sunshine.

That made me want to get out for a walk around too. Checking in on the Gracie Memorial Catnip Garden, I noticed that the recently-transplanted catnip is still alive. This is a good sign. Not much to see here, but there it is.

One of the "Vera" irises is blooming. Vera was my father's next wife after my mother died. Without getting into too much family drama, I'll just say she tried and succeeded to drive a wedge between me and my father. I blame her for being such an awful and spiteful woman. I blame him for letting it happen. I accept responsibility for whatever part I played in that whole unfortunate situation. Whatever the case, in a fleeting moment of charity, she passed along some iris bulbs. They've never done well, but one is blooming right now. It's hard for me to love them. Vera passed away about a year and a half ago at the age of 97. My father is still living at the age of 94. We have not spoken in nearly 20 years. Please do not offer up solutions for this. It's really better that way.

On a sunnier note, seven of the original 12 sunflowers are doing well. It's always exciting when they get ready to bloom.

This lilac was planted by the previous owner of our house and it has been trying to die for at least 15 years...the length of time we've lived here. The past three years, it has bloomed. Go figure. Its nearly-dead stalk is ornamentally shaped, which is the reason we continue to allow it to stay in the garden.

There are flower buds on all six surviving tomato plants.

The lettuce is ready for harvesting.

Another rhododendron is putting on a show.

And the lavender is blooming.

This can mean only one thing: Bees Knees cocktails. These are not on our diet.

Since it was a rare warm afternoon, we sat out on the patio drinking them. A squirrel joined us to eat his strawberry.

He was so not bothered by our presence that he sat just feet away from me and scratched an itch.

The new "catio" window has been installed on the truck camper. It's hard to see in this image, but the old window was a frameless style that only tilted open a few inches at the bottom. Now, it has a framed style that slides up. It's the one on the right in the image below.

From the inside, it looks like this. There's a shelf below where kitties can sit and ponder whether to move out onto the catio.

Both the screen and the window slide up, making a wide opening for two cats to come and go.

We'll be taking a few driveway camping trips soon to see how we do together. Also, on my way out the door, I snapped this picture of the magnetic bulletin board we installed. There were no magnetic surfaces in the truck camper, and I must have a place for the refrigerator magnets I collect while traveling.

This is on our diet. Hoisin Chicken with Soba Noodles and Sugar Snap Peas and some green beans. I learned a new way of making fresh green beans on the diet. I've always boiled the snot out of them. These are stir fried in a hot skillet with the lid on to steam them into tenderness. They're really good that way. I've tried this with other hard vegetables like asparagus and broccoli. Really good.

The Flower Fairy paid a visit this morning. Someone drove up in a car I didn't recognize and left these flowers at the door. Hm.

Okay...gotta go. How's that for no fluff?