Every Blooming Thing at the Three Cats Ranch

Since it was supposed to rain this morning, I went out yesterday and took pictures of every blooming thing that greeted us when we arrived home. The very first thing I noticed was this hyacinth that the squirrels planted a few years ago. I've always thought they gave us the hyacinths to make up for eating all my tulip bulbs.

Here's a darker one right beside it.

They did leave one or two tulips. This one is fully opened, and there are a few more still in tight buds.

This next one is the daphne Erik and Mae gave me for Christmas one year. It took it a few years to get going, and a couple of ice storms knocked it back some. Its flowers are small, but big on fragrance. It smells heavenly.

The heather was just getting going when we left, but now it's going great guns.

This next one was kind of exciting to see. These are buds on the dappled willow tree. It was a new addition to the garden last year. We planted it after Mother's Day, and it had already bloomed by then. This will be our first year to see it blooming. Now I can't wait.

The daffodils were just heading up when we left, but now there are quite a few blooming.

If the flowers are impressive, the weeds are even more so. There's going to have to be some serious weed-pulling, and soon, or we'll be overrun in no time.

Okay, now in the "My Silly Cat" category, I have to tell you about Sadie's new little hidy hole. Last summer, she had a very bad habit of bringing chipmunks into the house. And just try shooing one of those little suckers out the door. They are crazed maniacs, and they jump! One of them, in a panic, discovered a place to hide above our coffee machine. (Here, I would insert the pandemonium that ensued before he discovered this place, but your imagination can probably fill in nicely. I doubt you can imagine anything more outlandish than what actually took place.) So fast forward to before we left on vacation and this morning, and Sadie took a cue from the chipmunk and has adopted this spot as her purrsonal and purrivate bedroom. Here's how it works.

Here's the coffee machine...our kitchen has a greenhouse window and a sort of "pop-out" section of the wall that accommodates it. On either end of the kitchen, the wall turns about a 45° corner. It's a good place for the coffee machine that is kind of a counter top hog. But...you know...coffee. We adapted. By the way, I just made a cup. Would you like some? Just help yourself. Cups are in the cabinet above.

So, anyway...above the coffee maker there is a gap between the cabinets where the corner is.

And Sadie...that little stinker...with her compact body and strong legs, she can jump clear to the top of the cabinet on the right and into the little space between the top of the cabinet and the ceiling. There is crown moulding there, and so I would estimate a space of no more than four inches. She's taken to using this as her secret napping place.

The reason for mentioning this is that I looked all over for her this morning when I opened the door for them to go out, and I heard her jump down from this spot. Cats. What are you going to do?

So...let's see...what was I doing when we left two weeks ago? For one thing, I started an emergency back-up stitchery project when all my others were packed. I had it this far along before we left.

So I asked myself which project I would pick-up now that we're home, and decided to finish off Friendship's Garden before getting back to the redwork. When I finished this morning's stitching time, I had it this far.

There's not much left, and so I expect it to be finished within a couple of days. After that, I'll get back to the redwork. It's a small project, and so I expect to finish it off pretty quickly too. After that, I'll get started on my new project, Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs. The first block is ready for stitching. The machine top-stitching was finished before we left, but apparently, I haven't taken a picture yet.

This being April 1st, it's time to choose a project for April's OMG:

My goal this month is to quilt and bind the Rainbow Jubilee quilt. This was my project for the 2018 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

It should be pretty quick to finish this off. I'm not doing anything fancy...just a grid of some kind with a gold variegated thread.

So that pretty much brings me up to date. I'd love to sit here chatting all day, but there is unpacking to do. And weeding. And sewing. If there's any time for sewing today, I'll start catching up on the Tiny Tuesday blocks. As of tomorrow, I'll be three blocks behind. I guess there's no time like the present.

Oh yes...and April Fool's Day. Trust no one. Believe nothing.