i finally got around to

shaving the cats.  Strat didn't like it at all.  He was doing that growl that cats do when they're not happy and about to lose their crap.

It was fine though.  I told him to shut up and that he didn't make the rules today.

Lucille mostly liked it and she took a lot longer.  She has had all that long hair, but she just sat there and licked me.  Now, when I got closer to her butt, she got a little anxious but who wouldn't?  She looks much better now.  She went into it as a little kitty and now she's a fierce lion.  Well, a lion.

"WTF???" - Strat

That went so much better than expected.

It's also time for the sprinklers again.

I don't know why that makes me so happy.  There's just something about having the sprinklers going first thing in the morning that I like.  Maybe it's the sound or maybe it's just TCB.

I figured since I was out there watering the yard, I'd also get my new stuff in pots.

I'm hoping for better luck with cilantro this year.

I got rid of my dead rosemary and filled that pot with basil.

I also pulled a few weeds from around my few sprigs of chives.

And then there's Dodo's azalea in the former basil pot.  It's still looking pretty good.

Maybe we'll get a little rain today to help out.

Spring has sprung and I'm really liking it.

Next up this week: making vet appointments for the cats.  They need to get back on their flea drops and that stuff we got Strat on last year was awesome.  The only down side is it has to come from the vet and the cat vet is in Houston.  That's just not something I can do anymore so I asked on fb for a good cat vet and I'm going to call this week for an appointment.  I wonder if they'll see a lion...  Speaking of vets, I noticed Archer walking weird so I need to keep an eye on him and hope he gets to feeling better.  I think it might have to do with his stomach.  He's walking slow and his hind legs are spread a little.  I saw that walk once before, right before he crapped on the sidewalk.  I'm going to see if he goes to the bathroom today.  If not, I'm wondering if he might be constipated.

The fun never ends around here.

let's rewind to when I ordered

the new rug.  A few days later, I went to Walmart to buy a little fluffy rug for the cats.  We decided to get that to maybe keep them off of the new rug so much and let them still enjoy the fluffiness.

It started raining the other day and Strat took to the rug.

Sometimes they both get on but usually, it's only one.  The rug reminds me of the piece of boat scrap from the end of Titanic. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio both could have fit but sticking with the plot, he had to die.  Oh yeah, spoiler.  It really seems like the prop crew would have made a smaller piece of scrap.  Anyway, the rug is our Titanic scrap.

Yes, he knows you're there, Lucille. He just doesn't care.

I heard a joke the other day.  What do you get when you cross the Atlantic with the Titanic?  Halfway.

Okay.  On a similar but more serious note, ever since before the wedding I've been making comments about needing to take a vacation.  I don't need anything major.  I don't need a week in Scotland or anything, just a little road trip.  One place I've always wanted to go is San Antonio.  I've driven through and made a few stops but never spent the weekend.  Cosme and Eric always do their convention every year but because of the animals, I never go.  We finally looked over the calendar at the upcoming months and picked the best weekend.  I knew of a hotel I wanted to stay in that I read about a few years ago.  After doing my trip research, I decided I might not want to stay there.  We decided to leave it up to Priceline.  (We all know I love to name my price and gamble a little.)  We did it.  We booked a 5-star hotel.  How can you go wrong with a 5-star hotel?  Let me tell you.  You start reading reviews and find FREAKING GHOST STORIES.  I asked Cosme if I dare search The St. Anthony being haunted.  I knew I shouldn't but he said to go for it.  I enter "haunted st anth" and the first option I'm given is "haunted st anthony hotel san antonio".  Awesome.  I click on that option and there it is, listed in the top five most haunted places in San Antonio.  Actually, those weren't the exact words but the exact words included the word "evil" and I'm trying to stay positive here.  I'd normally feel really awesome about a 5-star hotel for less than $200 a night but right now I'm feeling like Priceline screwed me over.  Yes, I went on to read the ghost stories.  I also went on to search videos.  I also searched how to keep ghosts away from you.  I'm trying to look on the bright side and came up with a few things:

 ONE.  Cosme said ghosts and things never come around him.  (Whatever, we've both seen an orb float through our room and although asleep, he was still there the night I woke up to our bedroom door opening and then closing.)

TWO.  I've researched and know where the most activity is so maybe we can request to not be put near the fifth or tenth floors... and especially not room 536.

THREE.  I've done more research and already have two bottles of holy water on hand.  I also know where I can get more.  I will be prepared.

Those are the only definite points I have right now but I'm still working on it.  I'll be prepared and if it gets to be too much, we'll come home.  So while I'm preparing myself to ward off spirits, I'm also reminding myself of the people who leave with no ghost stories.  I'm hoping to be added to that list.

i tried a new recipe last

night, I think.  A while back I tried a good meatball recipe but never linked it here... you know, the main reason I share new recipes here, FOR EASY ACCESS TO THEM AGAIN.  So I couldn't find the meatball recipe but found one I saved HERE.  I made that one.

We liked it and I'm officially linking it as my meatball recipe.  We had them in sandwiches with toasted sandwich rolls.

Today I need to make a dessert.  Cosme asked for a cheesecake yesterday but I don't think I have enough room in the refrigerator to store one.  I think we might end up with cookies.

Last night we were watching tv in the bedroom with the door open.  I've shared pics on fb where Strat sits there, hoping we'll let him in.  Here's what happened last night.

We noticed him.  He really wanted in.  I think he passes by and glances at us hoping we'll break down and let him in.

Oh, hey.  It's just me, hanging out by myself.

 It didn't work so he went about it another way.  Hiding around the corner, I saw him eyeing the carpet.  He wanted on it so badly.

I caught him looking at me.  I'm sure he was assessing the situation.

He got bold and sat at the edge, putting one paw on.  It's like his nerves wouldn't let him make eye contact and left him staring into space.

OMG.  I'M ON IT AND IT FEELS AMAZING.

Realizing he'd made it that far and not knowing how he'd been able to keep it there for that long, he finally looked at me.  Was he was watching me wondering why I wasn't looking at him but at my phone instead?

Does she not see me???

Then he decided he probably got as far as he could for the night and turned his attention to the tennis match.

All that for tennis?  Was it worth it?

That didn't last long.  Who can blame him?

This morning I took the dogs out to eat.  I put food in each of their bowls and Archer started eating while Maggie didn't.  I kept telling her to eat but she would just put her head down.

One last time I said, "Maggie, eat your food".  Archer also had enough of her case of the blahs.  He took his nose and pushed her dish right in front of her and went back to his own bowl.

She didn't get up but finally started eating.

I think she was just having a slow moving morning, until a squirrel popped up on the fence and they bolted.

I took the Bitter Bandage off her leg this morning.  I figured it'd been on long enough.  Once I hear licking again though, I'll put another piece back on.

I think I'll go see what all we have on hand available for desserts now.  I did buy a few cake mixes the other day so maybe I'll just go with that.  Sounds easy enough and it won't need the refrigerator.  Maybe I'll turn my nose up at dessert like Maggie did her breakfast.  Yeah, not likely.

it's monday morning and

Maggie is running and jumping with no problem.  A squirrel finally fell out of a tree yesterday.  Cosme said the dogs bolted over to it and that Maggie must have jumped eight feet to try to snatch it after it made its way back up to safety.  Her meds are working.  I noticed this on the inside of her leg, just above her paw.

One mark was definitely there on Thursday but I just noticed the other on Friday.  I didn't know if it was always there or if it has something to do with her injury.

It seems like I'm seeing s'mores stuff everywhere.  Maybe it's a summer thing but everyone is pushing the ingredients.  Even Dairy Queen has a s'mores blizzard, which by the way is AWESOME.  After I tried it, I still had s'mores on the brain.  I've only had one once so I bought the ingredients and made some more s'mores.  Meh… I'm not a big fan.  I like graham crackers, I like chocolate bars, and I love roasted marshmallows but as it turns out, I just don't really like them together.  I only made the two and after that I skipped all the hassle and just had roasted marshmallows.  Yum.

I think I'll stick to deconstructed s'mores from now on, unless it's in a DQ blizzard.

We made lunch yesterday and it was SO good.  After I prepped baked beans and macaroni and cheese and cooled off a little, we got the grill going and made barbecued chicken.

It was seriously an awesome Sunday summer lunch and the combination together was just typical outdoor bbq stuff.  I told Cosme we need to make bbq chicken more often.

I also made a trip to Brazoria yesterday to borrow the chainsaw and stopped to take a picture of one of the local beer joints.

The new thing around here seems to be painting people on buildings and in most cases, it's country stars.  I do think Cooter Brown's Country Club looks better with the artwork.

I'm going to start laundry now before I lose every last bit of energy and end up like Strat was over the weekend.

Goals.

we go through phases

around here, normally when it's hot out, where we drink a whole lot of iced tea.  We're in the middle of that phase right now.  I use a 3 quart Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker and during these phases I keep two pitchers of tea in the refrigerator.  When the second starts running low, I refill both.  I've been having issues with the machine lately.  It's been leaking.

It's just not worth it anymore.  I've already ruined one dish towel and now that one towel isn't enough to clean up the mess.  I threw the Mr. Coffee in the trash yesterday.  This morning I did it old school, on the stove.  This is my first time so we'll see how it turns out.  Maybe I'll like it better and not replace the Mr. Coffee… which doesn't have great reviews.  I did look it up online yesterday but the leaking seems to be a problem.  Maybe I'll wait for a better model or maybe I'll find a different model.  I never had that problem with my old round one, only this last square one.

I went to help at the church yesterday.  While I was there, it started pouring.  It was bad.  Lightning flashed and all the power went out.  We couldn't stop what we were doing and we were right in the middle of it all.  We finished our stuff by candlelight, flashlight and cell phone calculators.  It was crazy.  It took us longer since we were having to go so slow.  (It's amazing how much faster you can get stuff done with the lights on.)  When it was all done, I was ready to chill.  That's when I got my daily photo.

Then I saw another photo op.

They're REALLY grainy because my ISO was really high.  I don't care though.  The darker downtime was nice.  I know there's a chance of rain today but I'm hoping it'll lay off.  After yesterday, we're good for a few days.

I need to do some research now.  I think I have blueberries in the freezer and if so, I'm going to figure out how to make a blueberry compote type of thing.  I want to make a Dutch butter cake which is really like a big shortbread cookie.  I think it'd be nice if I made some type of topping for it.  Since I think I have blueberries that need to be used, that might be perfect.  Also, blueberries are on sale so if it works, I'll buy and freeze more for another batch later on.

a few facts about some

of our animals:

One way to get Maggie to smile is to stick your finger in her ear and rub.

Her ears were irritated so I mixed up some essential oils and made them better.

If you're a black dog and you like rolling in dead grass, every will know it.

It was just the one side that was covered.

Tennis makes Strat fall asleep.  Wait, I guess that's pretty much everything.  Everything makes Strat fall asleep.

Except food.  Food wakes him up.

When you don't give him any, he goes back to sleep.  Oh, and if you're a cat who can't fit on the ottoman, the coffee table makes a great place to prop your feet.

And if you're Melanie and have a lot of things to do, you find other things to distract you... like posting animal pictures.

it's no wonder my head has had so

much pressure.  The weather has been crazy.  Last week we were bundling up like it's the middle of winter or something.  Yesterday I was wearing flip flops.  I'll be back in flip flops today.

When we were having one of our cold spells either last week or the week before, I heard noise out on the back patio.  It sounded like furniture being moved around.  It was.  Archer was trying to build a shelter again.

 I went to the garage and got a tarp and some twine and fixed a spot for him.  He loved it.

He didn't want to come in and as long as the temp didn't drop too much, I let him stay outside.  It's funny because the reason we started bringing the dogs in at night was for a barkless night of sleep.  When Archer is outside by himself, he doesn't bark at all.

The tent didn't last long because Maggie didn't want it there and every time she was around, it would get torn down.  I figure she knew he liked it out there and wanted him staying inside with here.

Meanwhile, the cats were taking it easy in front of the fireplace.  Nothing says cozy like a good face plant in the the rug.

Now let me just talk a little about getting back into my routine.  I said I was giving myself until Monday and here we are.  It's Monday morning and I'm sitting here with my oatmeal starting my day.  I went for a walk on Saturday, seeing what that would do to me.  It actually gave me energy and I came home and took the Christmas lights down from the trees.  Today I'm going for another walk, just to see.  I'm even going to show up at the chiropractor this morning.  I don't even know how long it's been since I've gone in.  Between being sidetracked and trying to avoid people (not just being antisocial, I'm trying hard to avoid the flu), I know I'm way overdue.

Oh, in my avoidance of people, going out and anything else requiring my attention, I managed to binge watch an Amazon series over the weekend.  It's called The Last Post. 

I liked it.  I'd probably watch a second season if there is one.

7:00.  That means it's time to get out of this chair and get busy and back on track.  Now let's just hope it works.

every time I go into city hall

I see this sign on the door.

I don't really LOL when I see it but it makes me smile with a "hmmph".  Whatever that is.  I guess it just amuses me for some reason.  I'm sure if you go into city buildings of bigger towns, the signs read "firearms prohibited".  I like the way my town specifies.

The dogs have been spending a lot of time in the cage with all the cold weather.  This is how they were snuggling on Saturday.

And this is how the cats were snuggling on Sunday.

I was on my way to the store yesterday and I was taking a back road.  I started thinking about how horrible house fires are.  On my way back from the store, on that same road and in the same spot where I thought about how horrible house fires are, someone's travel trailer was engulfed in flames.

The trailer on fire was in front of the long trailer.  I did wait until I got into the back of the neighborhood before I took the picture.  I didn't want to be that person.

You see how my brain works?  I'm already a natural worrier.  When things like that pop into my head and then happen, it makes me worry more.  I should be drinking more.

I've got a lot of baking to do so I can wrap it and give as gifts, well, and keep a little for us too.  I'm trying to keep it simple until Tuesday, or at least tonight.  The dishwasher parts came and will be installed in the morning.  Until then I'm having to wash everything by hand but I'm definitely not worrying about taking up any counter space with drying rack.

I've got two big drying racks that can roll up and be tucked away without taking up any of my work space.  How's that for looking on the bright side?  Another bright side?  My refrigerator is making noises and my washer is acting up periodically.  Thank goodness for appliance warranties.  Right?

I finished two batches of Raspberry Shortbread Bars and they are divided on the platters.

Now I just need to figure out something else to put on there.  Sweeties is a regular cookie recipe on the rotation but they're seriously a pain to make.  Well, they're a pain when the dishwasher is out of order.  There's the bowl for mixing, I think a bowl and sifter, the mixer paddle, something to scrape the edges of the bowl, 2 cookie sheets, a cookie scoop, 2 cookie racks for cooling, a bowl for icing, a whisk for the icing... definitely not making sweeties.  I think I might do Pecan Pie Squares.  Yeah, that's something I feel like snacking on.

Remember that cardinal that was trying to get in the front door way back?

He's never gone away and I think my garland is just making him want to stay longer.  It's like he went from an Econo Lodge to The Ritz-Carlton.  If he asks me for restaurant recommendations or to book a massage, I'll direct him to the cats or dogs.  Problem solved.  And if I do hear the bird talking to me, it's because the worrying and dishwasher made me start drinking more... or not enough.

this monday has me starting off

a little cranky.  I looked on fb.  Big mistake.  I read an article about a man in California being inspired by a mass shooting to destroy one of his prized possessions, an AR-15.  He is quoted in KPRC's article, "I can't do it.  I can't have something in my house that so easily could become a part of another situation like that, and I'm not going to be desensitized to it...".  This tells me he made the right choice.  Was he having violent urges?  Did he just admit to easily being capable of going on a shooting spree?  That's what it sounds like to me.  Anyway, that irritated me.

Then I scrolled down and read another article, this one about Jerry Jones.  The NFL owners are accusing him of damaging the NFL and acting against their best interest.  Stop. Right. There.  I know there are people who are boycotting the NFL and it has nothing to do with Jerry Jones.  The NFL was damaging itself but now the other owners wants to blame Jones?  It sounded to me like Jones was acting in the best interest of the NFL but then it all goes back to that witch hunt.  Whatever.

I'm done.  I'm done hearing about current events.  It only annoys me.

And all of a sudden does it seem like 2017 is trying to meet its death quota?  It's celebrities and nobody I know (thank goodness) but still. 

Enough of that talk.

I made something the other day.  I've seen things like it around, for sale and on Pinterest.  Anyway, I've had a frame sitting around that was Dodo's that had an old family picture in it.  I don't really want to display the picture because one of the people isn't even in our family any more.  (Would a person sitting for the camera be a poser?)  So I've had this frame and decided to make it into one of the things I've seen to hang old pictures on.  By old pictures, I mean pictures of grandparents.

I grabbed a can of spray paint but wasn't happy with it.  I went to Walmart and got a different color, along with tiny clothes pins.  I attached chicken wire once the paint dried and pinned the pictures on.

This is it.  It'll go on the wall in Eric's room.

This is a close up of a tiny clothes pin.  They're cute.

Today I'm going to take the pictures off and paint the chicken wire to match the frame.  I think I'd like it better that way.  I forgot to add that to my to-do list.  It's a long one.

Makes me think about Saturday afternoon when we just had El Toro, Cosme was watching tennis, Strat wasn't and I decided to take a nap.

Sounds awesome right now.  Unfortunately, there's no time for that.  Time to conquer that to-do list.

the weather must be

changing.  The pressure in my head told me so.

I'm keeping this short and sweet because barking dogs disrupt my thinking... unlike cozy, cuddling dogs.

The dogs do like to cuddle together but today they're in the backyard barking at something.  I think it's another dog.  I'm pretty sure it's another dog.  Since it's in the neighbor's yard, I've either got to get used to the noise or find myself a set of comfortable earplugs.

Maybe I could just let them inside and they can watch Ghost Brothers with Strat.

Oh, I'm not leaving Lucille out.  She's that little speck of fur on the floor in between the two ottomans.

Ahhh, the dogs quit barking.  If my nasal decongestant will hurry and kick in, things will be pretty awesome.  I'm going to go enjoy this while I can.

i had to make a trip to

 Houston to pick up Strat's flea drops from his vet.  While paying, I saw these cat collars on display.

They're not like regular collars, they feel like they're made of neoprene or something and attach with velcro.  I wanted to get one for Strat.  Guess which one.

Did you guess Fat Cat?  If so, you're right.  Then I thought about it and it seemed a little mean.  Like, does he really think people need to be reminded that he's fat?  Does he need to be reminded that he's fat?  I don't think I need a "fat girl" necklace to be reminded of anything.  (Isn't that what mirrors are for?)  So, I didn't get it.  Well, that reason along with the fact that his neck is bigger than his head so it probably wouldn't have stayed on anyway.

Here he is watching Eric stream online.

 Here he is watching me wash dishes and eat grapes.

Speaking of eating.  Kroger is having a sale.  Last week Cosme mentioned that Oatmeal Creme Pies sounded good.  They're on sale for 99 cents when you buy 5.  Guess who went shopping?

I also managed to have breakfast that didn't include a Little Debbie.  Well, that's only because I have way too much bread on hand so I made French toast.  So I guess it was a win/win situation.  I didn't have a Little Debbie and managed to work on our bread overage.  On the other hand, it could also be a lose/lose.  I had to have French toast for breakfast and in the process, missed out on Little Debbie.  Oh well, I had plenty of sugar so now I need to get up and get moving to 1) take advantage of any sugar high and 2) feel like I'm doing something to balance out all the sugar I just had.