ZEKs LITE

The Mother's Curse, and the Lucky Mother

To all who have been like mothers to us, or who are now in the position of mothering others, Happy Mother's Day!

This morning I received a cleared-off kitchen table with a pretty table cloth, an african violet, and a back scratcher.  Currently Z is baking cookies.

I feel a little funny about my delight upon receiving the back scratcher.  It's something my own mother would want, and like my mother, I was tickled about the price tag that got left on which revealed how inexpensive the back scratcher was.  My mother is a part of me, in so many ways.

I was not sure I deserved mother's day today, having cursed Z last night with a twist on the traditional mother's curse.

Usually one says,
"I hope you get a child just like you." Instead I said, "I hope you get one just like me."

(Incidentally, I love "The Cursing Mommy" humor pieces in The New Yorker.  But that's a different thing altogether.)

If Z does get one like me, she will know what to do.  A woman at church, who works with Z in the Sunday School, told us that Z had a natural intuition for working with children; that she is kind and friendly, able to redirect and manage disputes in positive ways, and works well with challenging kids.

That made me feel very lucky.  Certainly I never had or modeled that skill; it is hers, and I'm so proud to be her mom.  Any kid would be lucky to have her as a mom.  So our next generation is taken care of, whatever it may be.

Sheep and Wolf

That's what L calls the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival.  We arrived early enough to get good parking and to enjoy the place before it got too crowded.

The Sheep-to-Shawl competition was in full swing.  Everyone had a role -- the carders, spinners, weavers and all.

Folks were wearing their knitted things, and their dyed things, and they dyed themselves as well.

Some very strange new knitting fibers are out these days.  I can't exactly call this yarn, but you can knit it.

Lace and shawls were capturing us this year.  Many glorious stitches!

Many wonderful colors!

Some time with good friends, some funny faces (little E was good as gold for several hours, what a trouper!).

I left with a bag of yarn for knitting a fat cabled sweater.

 

And a lot of other stuff, Prague

There's just way too much.  I give up.  Here's a random assortment of things Prague.

Zip lines.  Oh yes, the parks have several, even for grown-ups.

The metranome installed to take the place of the Stalin monument. 

It's now a youth hangout, with skateboarding, shoe-hanging and street art.

Also it's got a fantastic view.

We hadn't known that the Golem was a Prague story.

It was good times. Thanks so much, B-O-P!

More sights in Prague - town and Park

In Prague one must visit the John Lennon wall, with its ever-evolving patterns of graffiti.

And a trip into the Old Jewish Quarter is important.  It is a lot to take in.

There's a lot to eat.

If you are age 2, none of this matters.  You care more about ants.  O told us not to eat them.

Then there's that elevator that never stops moving, with no doors.  You just hop in.

This is why it is fun to visit locals.  If B and P hadn't had to come here to file their taxes, we'd never have found such a fun thing. 

We feel a little silly for finding such simple differences as fascinating as the wonderful old architecture, but we do.

Castle and Clock

Certain things one expects to see in Prague. 

The castle, with
St. Vitus Cathedral.

The cathedral has some wonderful gargoyles.

We expect to cross the Charles Bridge and take in the view.

We travel to Old Town Square with the astronomical clock (so old the earth is still the center of the universe, sun revolving around).  We watched the hour strike and Death rang his bell while the Apostles toured past the opened windows, giving us their blessing.

We checked out the Easter markets, ate trdelniks (one must!).

Generally, a lot to see in not a lot of time!

Photos from Prague

Oh my, the catch-up week is longer than expected.  But finally I have some photos.

We had a fantastic time in Prague!

We had the best hosts.  B and P greeted us with beer cheese (mash the stinky cheese with onions, paprika, beer and I don't know what else) and took us on wonderful walks, showed us sights. 

Little O, who turned two while we were there, was a very good traveller.  He told us what was safe to eat and what wasn't.  "Don't eat dog poo!!!"

In the neighborhood, we visited the grocery store (where Whip Man presides, apparently) and the local farmer's market, where you can get wonderful pastries, chickens that haven't been bread to absurd proportions, and fantastic salami. 

B can pack a lot in that stroller.  Groceries, extra clothes, a bicycle... everything except little O.

Knitters, pay attention to that bowl of eggs on the left.  Wire mesh knit around the eggs!

More to come, day by day.

Age of Inhibition meets age of Abandon

Ah, a mother-daughter outing to the track!  Our running club started with a walking warm-up.   We missed the first training day, so we didn't know the drill.

So embarrassing that Mother gets out the camera right there on the track!  Plus she was embarrassing in other ways.

What we were supposed to do:  meet with our pace group and walk around the track before running.

What we did: start walking around the track, watch pace groups form from far away.  What are those clusters of people up to?  What are the little signs they are carrying?

Then we realized they were starting to run.  So we ran.  Each group we approached, I hollered at people.

"What pace group is this?" and they'd yell back, "12:30-13:00!" or "9:30-10:00!"

Apparently this was mortifying.  Z let me know that I had broken some rule I didn't even know about.  It seems you aren't supposed to holler at groups of strange women while sprinting and panting.  It seems I have a voice like a wild turkey.

Flashback from sister B, many years ago:  Mother in Canada, hollering down from a bridge at people in a hedge maze: "Hey!  Is this a maze or a labyrinth?"

To me it's just another reason to love the three of them.  B and Z are two peas in a pod--a direct transmission of genetic material.  And I'm beginning to behave like my mother.  

What a tangled web we weave.

With a slight squeeze in my chest, I am getting used to this.  I'm starting to embrace it.  Either I'm adjusting well, or falling off the edge of something...

The Itching Hour

Fuzzy:  "Snirrffftttt!  Shnew!  Fnntthhh!"

That's enough sound effects for the rest of the year.

She had some sort of itching thing going on.  Lots of twisting and licking.

Then back to cuteness with a trace of evil insanity.  I can almost see the vampire fangs.

A difficult goodbye

We lost our Petey boy today. 

He'd taken a bad turn and his illness quickly took over. 

It was very sad to see him go.  Ten years is a short cat life, and it is not fair.

His absence is everywhere; I can't take a dish out of the cupboard to make a snack without expecting him to appear and ask if he can have some too.

So here are some pictures of his final days with us, as well as some of his chubby youth.

In his prime he was a 21-pounder.  That might have been a little too much.

Pete had a brother, Wizbit, who is no longer with us.  Wizbit had a habit of jumping into people's cars.

Pete was known to carefully guard Easter baskets and Christmas presents. 

He liked the taste of cinnamon and gum drops, which we never fed him but he sometimes captured.

 

Pete talked a lot.  We had many good conversations.

He was a good listener when we talked to him.  He greeted us at the door when we came home.  Although he didn't play with toys as most cats do, he stayed close to his family.  He was a people cat.

He loved a good snuggle, and was the source of artistic inspiration.

When Z was little, she drew a picture of kitties napping in what seem like heavenly beds--
the ultimate in comfort and peace. 

I found it recently, and it fits the occasion.

Good night, sweet Pete.

 

More Blooming Things

Hooray for my sister B of OneGreenBee Designs -- her illustrations were accepted by Tiny Tales and put onto silly-cute-useful-sweet cards.  Check them out!

They are good for recipes, memories, and messages.   I like the one that goes, "I said something..." and gives choices like "embarrassing," "smart," "for the first time," etc. 

There are a few adjectives I could add to that list for myself.  I ordered some so I can pencil them in.

A quiet house

Blooming things about the house.

Living in a row house, we have limited space for growing things.

But I potted some bulbs last year.

We greeted the change to daylight savings time with some baked french toast (raisin bread, with apples).  Good smells help us wake up early. 

And we've spent the weekend waiting.  Watching our ailing Pete, who has stopped eating and drinking.  He's curled up in his blanket on our bed, less than half the kitty he was a year ago.  We expect we'll be saying goodbye soon.  We're sad.  It's a quiet house.

March comes in like a lion

That's what Mom used to say. 

It fits the way the wind blows inside our house. Those who parent teens know what I mean.

 

The first baby crocus came up. 

With the crocus came other blossoms -- discoveries on my camera, taken by a stormy Z on a day when she was channeling her energies artistically. 

She took the photos above and below the crocuses.

 

 

Visitors from the south

We got some almost-surprise visitors this weekend. 

Me-Mom and
Pop-Pop were on an unexpected journey, and came by to paint Z's nails and kiss Pete for a few days.

One positive thing about Pete's condition is that he's more sociable, so he took all the extra attention well.

Reading our treads

About this time last year I started writing down the miles I walked and jogged.  Turns out I put 1,160 miles on my sneakers.  I showed my worn shoes to the good fellow at the local shoe store and asked him to read my treads.

He had me jog on their treadmill, with the camera behind me and the screen in front of me. I watched the back of my feet jogging along.  I am not symmetrical.  My left foot points out, requiring me to swing my left foot and arm around to the front if I want to run in a straight line.  It accounts for my hippity-hoppity stride that a couple folks have commented on.  It's also why I stand like Mary Poppins.  Ideally, I should have two different kinds of shoes, one for each foot, since they wear differently.  But I'm not going to do that.  I bought one pair.

Spring is a good time to read our treads and get some fresh ones.  I've got a conference-sized table up in the living room, covered with papers to file so I can do taxes.  Going through the past year's numbers is like counting miles, reading our treads.  Not a bad year -- could use a few more vacation and travel receipts, a few less medical bills, but otherwise, pretty OK.

So for the fresh start Spring calls us to, Z and I joined the Montgomery County Road Runners.  We signed ourselves up for the Beginning Women's Running program. By mid-summer we will run a 5K and get a T-shirt. Woo!

Spring things

Mitts in the works.  These are a tester.  They'll be done again in blue.

The bulbs in the potts are poking up.

The orchid is ready to bloom again.

Pete is getting really skinny, as his illness progresses.  We are trying to keep him comfortable and warm.

14 and 44

Two birthdays this weekend!  E and Z had a pizza dinner. 

More photos of E's hat to come when I take them in the daylight.

Now the fun can begin

Yahoo, it's January!  The longest possible time until next Christmas, which means if I start now, I won't feel so crazy as I did this year.  I can even get to work on presents I meant to make but didn't get around to, and give them out late if I feel like it.

We say this every year.  But some years we succeed.  It could happen.

For Z, right now is not so fun.  Not only will she need minor surgery on her aching big toe, but she has two weeks of exams to prepare for.  And the PE teacher says it's Polar Bear week, which means they go outside even if it's 20 degrees out there, which it is (what happened to our extended autumn?).

So to make herself feel better, she made this delightful video of happier times.  It includes several neighborhood children and her stuffed kitties, to the tune of a happy friendship song.

Don't feel bad if you aren't in it; she got a Flip camera a couple years ago and much of what is on this is leftovers from that time.  She hopes to make more fun videos soon.

A little more festivity

Before the new year begins, just a little more Christmas.

A little more of a choral performance by friend in a beautiful place...

Where we saw a lovely handknit sweater with an interesting stitch pattern up the sleeve...

A little more hot cocoa in a festive chocolate shop...

A few more tasty treats...

A last look at all the bobbles...

(these last 4 photos by Z)

And one last bit of Christmas knitting.

Weekend Christmas

We had an early gift-opening time at our house, then hit the road to see the northerly relatives for the holiday.

We stopped at the Italian deli for some treats that are harder to find in our neighborhood.

Z got to help Aunt Toots finish up the cookies.

I got a little bit of knitting done.

She has some special memorabilia around her house, like these teddy bears my mother made when I was a kid.

When we first discovered the patterns for these teddy bears, there was a bear-making frenzy that seemed to last for years.

Christmas day it was over to the cousins for a lot of eating and silly games; Z was attacked by five little cousins and finally got to eat at the big people's table.

Every traditional treat was on the dessert table and we all ate way too much.  E has already charted his recovery plan; we'll be taking lots of walks in the coming weeks.

The day was a whirlwind, as always, that leaves us tired but glad to have spent it with family.

Our kitties were happy to have us home.  A happy kindness greeted
us -- our neighbor had brought in our Monday morning trash bins and newspaper so we wouldn't appear to be away.

I'm looking forward to the morning wake-up walk, greeting the dogs and their walkers.

Happy Unstoppable Super-Cute Bigger-than-life Thanksgiving!

Yesterday was Turkey Day, and for the first time, I was on the ball.  Mother did not freak out or throw anything.  The parts of the meal were on time and fully cooked.  This may be a one-time event!  It helps that there were fewer parts.  Our guests brought the salads, sweet potatoes, and wonderful See's turkeys.

I had time to watch the Macy's Parade. 

E was watching and keeping a record of hyperbolic introductions to the various floats.  He composed this list, which he reads in a much more connected manner so that it sounds like one big long crazy introduction:

Famed
Towering talent
Singing sensation
Bigger than life
Award-winning international superstar
5-time Grammy-winning
On an unstoppable roll
Stunning
Amazing
Legendary
A national treasure
The world's favorite goodwill ambassador
The adored and coveted international and national superstar
Super-cute gigantic
Cupcake-like pastel ambassadors
Show-stopping showboat

I'm so happy with my turkey! I couldn't bear to open it.  I ate someone else's...

What's it got in its pocketsesssss?

Happy Trick-or-Treating to all who did it!  We hope your pockets are full of treasure.

Z was a fabulous Wednesday Addams.

E and I sent her out the door without us.  We decided to stay home for the four little costumed visitors we received. 

So things were different this year; no gingerbread houses, no walking about in the dark and watching the kidlets tromp from house to house. 

Instead E and I sat on the couch with cats in our laps.  While I knit, E read aloud from The Hobbit, which happily landed us in Gollum's cave.  A perfect Halloween adventure.

E is an excellent out-loud reader.  He knew how to snag himself an English major 21 years ago, when he stole me off to the quiet stairwell of the men's co-op and read aloud to me from wicked little Tennessee Williams short stories.  My heart was like a butterfly under the net, captured.

We ate some of Z's candy, and now she's off to school.  God help the teachers today.

 

Frost on the pumpkins

What the hey -- it's snowing on pumpkin carving day.

No accumulation, but some very big wet flakes.  That made it fun.

This year I tried a white pumpkin.  Who knew it would be green inside?

E and Z did the big orange ones.

Here are the happy faces on our doorstep!  Z's has no eyes.  We call it the Charlie Brown pumpkin.  E's is a classic.

I carved out a cone shape, and our friend B inserted it back into the pumpkin, inverted.  It was a pumpkin horn!  I had so much fun making more pumpkin horns that I skipped the face.

 

Kitty in a tote

Pete has broken through two cat carriers.  Mainly through flailing (he was overweight at one time as well).  That's how much he doesn't like going to the vet.

But surprisingly, he doesn't mind a tote bag.  In the car and at the vet, he curls up at the very bottom.  Last visit, the vet tech took him in the bag to the back of the office, and showed him off to everyone there.  Kitty in a tote makes for many giggles.

Swapped

Here are my shoes that have brown toes now!  E polished up the heavy scuffing. 

He asked me, "How do you get the toes so scuffed up?"  Do I really have to answer this question?  Admit that I trip over my own feet?  That I buy large clown shoes because A) I have huge feet and B) I wear thick hand-knit socks.

Nonetheless they were buffed with love.  I wish I'd taken "before" photos because these toes are much improved.  Thank you, E!

Swapping

E and I made a deal.  I'll bring up the hem on his too-long blue shirt, if he'll shine my brown leather shoes.

It's time for a shoe-shine!

Pete on a leash

He wants to go out, but that killer plant is out there.  So we have begun to put him outside on a leash whenever he asks.  He asks a couple times a day.  He just sits out there and sniffs the air, happily.

Runner

Z had her first cross-country meet yesterday.  She's a runner!

From the perspective of the spectator, this is a fun sport.  

There was a lot of cheering. I couldn't tell which parents were for which side, because every runner was cheered.  With such exertion on their faces, you want every runner to win.

Getting fatter?

We hope so.  Pete is on some new medication, to hopefully deal with inflammatory bowel disease, which maybe he has. 

Pete has to have his pill twice a day.  He's a pretty good pill taker.  After two weeks of willfully taking his meds, he's started to growl just a little when I grab his face to stuff a pill down.  Which means he's got more energy, I hope. 

I can't tell whether he's bloating or gaining.  We are hoping he puts on his missing five pounds.  He's certainly eating a lot.  We cheer him on, saying, "Eat Pete!  Grow large with food!"

County Fair

My time at the county fair was brief this year. 

I peeked at the arts and crafts, to get the scoop on Z's artwork (she did very well!) and then I joined the knitting ladies. 

If you have a "demonstration" of a craft, you get free admission to the fair.  So we were on display. 

I don't know whether anyone saw and learned, or just plopped down and joined us.  The group kept growing.  And then the thunderstorms came, so more folks piled in.

I never get tired of seeing what people bring to the fair. 

You can bring anything at all.  This angora rabbit was getting plucked and freed of its hot fur.

I missed seeing the baby calf and the baby camels.  Too rainy to get out.  But I enjoy the 4-H stuff a great deal.   As far as 4-H is concerned, if you made it, there's a place for it.  If you learned something new, you can proclaim it.

Even something as orinary as packing a good lunch is worthy of display space.

The toilet decorations are a bit strange to me; this was one of the few I think I could bear to have in my home.  And that says something.

I find inspiration in funny little places.  This painting is only about 3" x 2".  I think that's something I could manage.

Eat, Petey, Eat!

Peter, Peter, corncob eater...

E snapped this photo when we were being those sort of cat-parents who talk cutie-pie to their pet. 

Disgusting.

Lately I try and try to get this nauseous bony boy to eat.  And to keep the food he eats inside him long enough to be digested.  I feed him the meaty bits off the chicken carcass after making broth, the choped and fried-up giblets, bits of potato, and yes, corn cob.  It's like a little project for him to do.

And what do I get for all my labors?  A whiney cat that begs for food at every opportunity and whenever I am in the kitchen.

The Embroidery of Love

One of my birthday gifts was a hand-embroidered towel from my mother.  I have many of them now, stitched onto flour-sack cloth.  They are sweet, this one especially, because it is all the things I loved as a kid: bugs, ice cream and watermelon.

At first I hung them up for display, but then I softened and realized that to truly experience the love that went into them, I need to use and handle them daily.

So I briefly tried using them in the kitchen -- I will cry if I think about that, as the staining of one was inevitable -- and then switched to using them in the bathroom.  That's when I can appreciate their soft absorbancy (yes, these are hand towels), and also can take time to admire them.

Just give me a knife every year from now on

Last of the birthday fun -- some friends over for a puzzle, Queen Victoria cake with jam (it's also a Harry Potter recipe--I've forgotten the name and shall have to get hold of the Unnoficial Harry Potter cookbook) and my Birthday Knife.

E got me a cheese knife.  What a guy!  Night cheese is my favorite evening treat.

 

 

More South, some birthday

Here are a few more pictures of recent events.

It was necessary to stop at South of the Border, with its immense tacky displays.  But once was enough.

As usual, we did our share of eating, including Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah.

Z loved the Rolls Royce at the Dali museum, with the mermaid in the back seat.  We peeked at the home of Flannery O'Connor in Savannah, and her church, St. John the Baptist.

The Dali Museum really needs to be seen from both inside and out.

Our nature hike wasn't all horrible huge bugs; we did see this magic purple mushroom, and some interesting signage.

Z got some tutorials from Me-Mom; how to crochet a worm...

and how to bake a pie.  I finished a pair of socks.

We ate some gelato and Z photographed interesting bicycles.

When we got home, we had a little bit of birthday.  Sweet Z made me a cheesy berry pie-thing, and she painted my toes.  Later we'll have an indoor picnic with friends (the outdoors being too stinking hot).

My gift to myself was the completion of a secret goal:  I'm 41, and I can run.*  Five miles! 

Thank you, Z for this fun card!

*On the treadmill.  On the ground it's less.  But it's progress!

Yoga for traveling beetles

This is Child's Pose, for stretching out the back after poses in which the back is compressed.

This is the Lotus Pose, for relaxing at the end of yoga practice.

Z brought this beetle to me, because it is beautiful.  It reminded me of the time when her Uncle E and Aunt K moved to North Carolina.  Uncle E would mail me "the bug of the month."

We're headed to Florida, where we expect to find many bugs at
Me-Mom and Pop-Pop's place.

Portents of a birthday

It's not my birthday yet, but Sister B is sending her love along.  She drew this beautiful little birthday card.  And she sent some very nice little goodies.

Thank you, B!

The gifties also came with a fabulous black pen for Z.  Soon we will see what she does with it.

This card is telling me what color socks I should knit next.

Sitting in the sun

Black Ankle Winery on a sunny Saturday.  This is a place with water-free landscaping that reminds me of central Oregon, gardens on the rooftops, and a stony picnic area.  We had some wine, bread, cheese, fruit... and a visit from a good friend to take the picture for us.

Z does not drink wine, of course, but we brought some sparkling cranberry juice along, so everyone could have a festive beverage.

Restoring order

Crazy week it's been.  Granddad popped by for a visit and then landed in the ER.  Next day it was out with the gall bladder.  Apparently this runs in families... backward.

So he's recovering with us here, which is much handier than being way out on the farm in West Virginia.  He's doing well.

And at the same time, a gal from knit group fetched me this great Silky Wool from a garage sale.  Once I had done the same for her, but what she got me was way better than I what I got her, in terms of quality.  However, it was rather ensnarled.

It seems someone decided to begin a sweater without swatching or even rolling the skein into a ball.  Just got right to knitting.  Then got mad.  Then sold $30 worth of yarn for 50 cents.  So let us learn from this:  Take time to wind, and knit a swatch!

Weekend in PA

Thanks to the magic of canned posts, I seemed to be home on Saturday.  But we were actually several hours north. We stayed at the Toots Hotel (Aunt J).

It was the tradtitional Memorial Day Weekend picnic.  We saw a
T-ball game and ate burgers (except cousin R, who only eats potatoes--here they are). 

There were Jello flags, hearts and some other shape that represented Memorial Day.  It made for a colorful plate. 

There were salads that were mainly composed of sour cream, cream cheese and bacon, with some peas and iceberg lettuce thrown in for fiber.  And lots of watermelon. 

Z got worn out with over eight hours of playing with little kidlets.  She has a post about it on her blog.  E got the thrill of reading magazines and newspapers in someone else's house.  He really does like that -- simple pleasures!

I got to relax in the swing a bit.

Carrots from the Creative Crocheter

Dearest N, the Creative Crocheter, sensed my need for some fresh new oven mitts, and crocheted me these beautiful and rather complicated double-sided carrot mitts.

Like the mittens I made recently, these are reversible.  The pattern inside is the same as outside.  She has some funky way of achieving this, which I don't completely understand but it makes for really thick dense, safe oven mitts.

Plus they are just awfully cute.  Thank you, N!

Gratuitous cute kitty photo

The four-color doubleknit mittens are finished!

Fuzzy loves the recent warm weather and spends a lot of time lolling about with cute curled toes.

The mittens were a good exercise.  I'd like to do another pair and get them both to be equal tension, fewer bloopers.  By the end of the second one, I had fixed my loose-purl-side problem with better tension control.

Give her a High 5

My very talented sister B of OneGreenBee Designs has entered a graphic design contest.  She's worked up some greeting card images sent them to Minted, a paper designer.

Come see her contest entries here.  When you get there, you can support her by voting for her designs.  Just create a login for yourself (your email and a password) and you can rate her artwork 5 out of 5!

At left is one of her doodles -- a beautiful birthday card for Z.

Worlds combined

Recently Z brought home some "unfinished" school art.  She was supposed to paint a picture of her heritage.

For many of the kids at her diversely populated school, defining one's traditions and land of origin is easy.  Everyone is from somewhere, or has grandparents from the motherland living with them. 

For others, knowing what makes you who you are is harder; it's a moving target for those who summer with relatives overseas and expect to move to new countries every few years. 

What is your heritage is when you're of Western European descent, planted firmly in the USA for several generations, with family roots divided and scattered over the country?

I'm not sure Z really wanted to think about this question. 

Based on the expressions on the faces of these sheep, I'd say she was struggling with the idea, or at least with the assignment.

So instead of painting broadly, she had to come up with an image of what she is holding on to right now.

With memories of the Pacific Northwest, and recent visions of places like West Virginia and western Maryland, she came up with this conglomerate painting. 

If who we are and where we come from can be a tea kettle, a fir tree, and a Scrabble board, then it can also be a knitting needle, a rubber raft, a thumbprint cookie, or a mountain.

Shmentor

My hubby has started a blog.  That makes all three of us now.  Z has She Came from Planet Z, I have this weirdly-named blog, and E now has The Shmentor.  But I'm not supposed to capitalize it.

He drew this picture of himself for his banner.  It says it all. 

Chips and Dips for Dinner

The other night E and I had a very special dinner.  Fresh-made guacamole, chips, and beer.  It was one of our best dinners ever. 

Z was out strolling with a friend so she missed it and had to reheat some leftovers, but we thought we were having a romantic treat.

There she is!

The dress, the shrug, the shoes! 

This was the photo I meant to take a couple weeks ago.  I got my second chance this weekend when Z had some partying to do.

Happy Mother's Day to me!

This is the picture she drew on my card.  It is me as a kid... with a look on my face that she is apparently familiar with.

Mother's Day bouquets

Sending flowers is special, and expensive.  I tinkered this year with sending paper bouquets that pop up.  I followed the instructions on Extreme Cards and Papercrafting.  There are plenty of videos as well, such as the one on Instructables.

Putting three of these flower assemblies together on vase-shaped paper allows them to fold out 360 degrees to make a stand-up bouquet.  Probably some ferns could have been tucked in between the pages.  Double-sided paper isn't a must, but it's neat.

Happy Mother's Day!

Fun at the Navy Yard

Last weekend we had a day of play at the Navy Yard.  We toured a small ship for fun and E got to explain all its insides to Z.

Check out that big yarn there.  Here's more, with knots.

We visited the Navy Museum.  It's a pretty neat place.  For me, it's neat for a lesser amount of time than it is for E, who I think could stay a lot longer.

We did a little picnic in the park nearby.  We were with friends, and Z and her friend E made little foil boats to put on the pool, and watched how the waterfall propelled them to the other side.

 

 

Steal like an artist

My dear sister of OneGreenBee Designs put up a fabulous link on her blog, which I'm sharing here, called How to Steal Like an Artist. 

It's one of the most inspirational things I've seen in a long time.  It's also good advice.  Go there now and be refreshed!

While you're at it, check out Newspaper Blackout and discover the art of subtraction.

Pete watches SNL

We caved.  We got Hulu Plus for the Roku box.  OMG -- Every season of the X-Files.  Saturday Night Live.  Gumby.  We could rot in front of the screen forever.  Well, it's cheaper than cable.

Whe the SNL commercial with the cats coughing up hairballs came on, we thought Pete might like to see it.  Although he enjoyed being wheeled into the living room on his favorite chair, he hadn't a clue about the cats.

Tests came back: all normal.  Why is he losing weight?  Dunno.  Feeding him lots and lots, and he's eating.  Let's see if we can fatten this kitty up.

Meanwhile, Fuzzy sulks in the carrot pot, caring less for the the feeding frenzy than the the fact that her brother gets so much attention.

Shrinking Pete

Pete is losing weight.  He once was a 21 pound cat (OK, that was about 3 pounds too many).  Now he's a 13.5 pound cat. 

He went to the vet yesterday.  Results to come.  My prediction:  More potassium supplements, possibly thyroid meds.  I'm OK with shoving pills down a cat's throat.

At least his teeth were good and his spirits are pretty good too.  He loves to snuggle, but he has gotten very bony.  Jumping into laps is an effort.  Jumping on the counter just doesn't happen any more.  He's not supposed to do that anyway.

Pete is 9.  He is not an old cat, he is just unlucky.  Unlucky for having sedation for dental work when we didn't know his kidneys were weak, unlucky for having strong cravings for toxic plants.  The upside for him is that he has to eat a lot of wet cat food now to hydrate him... he is not complaining.