Normalizing

Good morning, my friends. I'm writing fast again this morning. There have been too many write-fast mornings lately if you want to know the truth. Today I'm writing fast because Mike is having his second cataract surgery today, and I'm the driver. Poor guy can't eat anything until after his noon surgery. We'll get some lunch afterward. Fortunately, these surgeries don't lay the patient low afterward, but he's still not cleared to drive until after his follow-up appointment tomorrow. Tomorrow's appointment is earlier, and so I'll probably write tomorrow's post in the afternoon.

Okay, so what happened yesterday? Well, first-off, I should say I'm feeling quite a bit better, day-by-day. I'm not 100%, but getting there. I'm still having some coughing spells, but my rescue inhaler helps. In general, I'm just feeling better, and less as if I have to be careful about aggravating my asthma symptoms. Although I didn't hoe the garden yesterday, I did check on it, and things are looking good. All the bean seeds have sprouted unmolested by crows, and I'm happy to say I think the garden is off to a good start.

After checking the vegetables, I checked on the rest of things. I was happy to find the daylilies starting to bloom. They didn't even put up any stalks until just recently.

Every time I think the Edda clematis is finished, it puts out even more flowers. It's been the most gratifying thing in the garden so far this year.

One wonders if it will be able to outshine the dahlias. It seems early for dahlias, but mine are covered in buds. Some look as if they will open any day.

The poppy didn't do very well this year. I'm not sure why. It put up three flowers early on, but that was it. Now it put up three more pathetic looking specimens. I'm afraid the rain did them in. The pinwheel you see there is our lame attempt at keeping squirrels from digging in the pots.

And the "Exverminator" Smitty is doing his part. He's caught nine squirrels this year. Don't feel too badly for the squirrels. Yes, they are cute, but they are mischievous and destructive, and we have way too many of them. They do a lot of damage with their digging and chewing. Smitty's efforts are appreciated here.

Back inside, I made some more progress on the tenth block for the "Snowmen and Reindeer" project. The bird was chirping at me from the box, wanting me to finish him off so he and the snowman could converse. Okay, okay, okay. 

I've moved my hoop down to encompass the bottom of the piece now. I'll take this with me and stitch on it while I wait for Mike's surgery to be completed. 

While I was stitching, the kitties joined me for their naps. Smitty was put out that a quilt wasn't folded neatly for his use, but he deigned to nap on the bare upholstery just this once.

Sadie took her nap on the geriatric kitty pole. Black cats are not happy about this hot weather.

Later, she joined me in the sewing room to help me finish the third background quilt block for "The Yoder Sisters" project.

This block was supposed to be a star. When I sewed it together, I had the flying geese sections oriented improperly and I ended up with this "X" looking thing. I blame Sadie for this. I'm not changing it. Just don't tell anyone, okay? Mum's the word.

Before finishing for the day, I laid the background pieces out for a picture. I'll sew these together today. When this is finished, I'll be ready to start on the appliqued sisters. To be honest, I'm approaching this applique with significant trepidation. Hopefully, it'll all go together without a hitch.

I'll end by sharing this gift article about a cat who wandered onto a stage in Turkey during the final tragic scene of Romeo and Juliet. Hilarious. 

Cats. Ya gotta love em. Their antics know no bounds nor any boundaries.

Okay, my friends. Gotta go. Life is calling, and I must answer the call.