weekends, storms, and kitties

 What an "interesting" weekend! Started out well enough where on Friday night,

I went to a bread making home party with a friend. The bread making was 

cool...the rep milled wheat flour from fresh wheat berries and then made

whole wheat bread, focaccia bread, and cinnamon rolls, using a Bosch mixer.

We had some delicious treats! I don't know how this rep makes any money though - 

all she sells is the mills and a Bosch mixer, each around $300. She wasn't at all

 pushy and no one at the party bought anything. Saturday was a quiet day, but I got

 a phone call from my mother that night. She and my sister were traveling home

 from my great-aunt's funeral in Kentucky and my mom hit a deer that jumped out

in front of her car while they were driving on the expressway. It totaled her

car, but thank God, my mom and sister were not hurt at all. I could tell my mom

was in shock though because she was too calm while telling me the story. Sure

enough, she had a very hard day on Sunday when reality and the emotional 

aspect sunk in. She's doing fine today ~ picked up a rental car and is dealing

with the insurance company. 

And then you may have heard about the terrible storms and tornadoes we had 

here in Illinois yesterday. My area had minor damage - we were lucky. All that

 happened at my house was that a possum got stuck in my window well (don't worry,

 got him out by putting a pole down in there for him to climb out)...

and a huge branch from my neighbor's tree fell on our patio. So glad it

only hit the patio and not a window or gutters or roof!

 On to a happier, lighter subject - my cats! I haven't talked about them or posted

any pictures in awhile. These three fur babies have my heart. I'm a big animal

lover, especially of cats. I do like dogs, but not enough to have one of my own.

This is Clementine. I found her on my front porch a few summers ago. She

was scrawny and afraid of everyone. She's now fattened up (not too much ~

she does keep her figure) and has beautiful, glossy, silky fur. She's also

very sweet and now loves people. You could pet her for hours and she'd be

content. However, she doesn't like to be held. She's not a snuggler.

But, I'm working on that. ;-)

She cracks me up when she lies on the heating vents to keep warm!

Or, when she climbs into any available container - in this case, a Backgammon

game - and just makes herself at home.

 We didn't know for a couple of weeks after Clementine joined us, that

she was pregnant! She only had two babies and one was stillborn. So that

left us with one kitten. Say hello to Monkey. This sweet, but very shy boy

is huge! He is very long and quite tall. Everyone jokes that they'd love to

see his daddy since Clementine is so tiny.

 When Monkey lies on any surface - a chair, table, or a dresser - he always

hangs one leg down. Animals are so quirky and funny, aren't they?

He also sleeps in some very unusual positions.

 And then there's my Zippo. He was another kitty that was found as a stray

at my house, but a long time ago. He was about three months old when he

was found and he's now 14-1/2.

He seriously is the most affectionate, sweetest cat we have ever had or

known. We always say we wish we could clone him. He is such a snuggle

kitty. Tim sure enjoyed his cuddle time with Zippo when he was home from

school last month.

In the evening, when I'm finally relaxing in bed with a book or some

TV, Zippo will come and curl up right next to me, in the crook of 

my arm. He even sleeps under the covers with us in the winter, snuggling

right between me and Brian. What a pussycat!

 I hope your weekend was a calm, quiet one. And if you'd like to tell

me about your fur baby - or babies - I'd love to hear about them.