Slate

He's such a beauty.

And could he be any more photogenic?

♥

Around Here, Lately

I painted a growth chart to put in the antique booth.

If I had grand kids, I'd keep it, especially when it matches

my living room so well!

My blackberry bush was the inspiration.

You know how much I love clouds!  And I've

named this summer the summer of the clouds because

they have been spectacular here in Ohio!  

This is how I begin each day...coffee in bed with

a furry friend.

It's been so hot lately, the last cup of coffee for the day

usually turns into a chilled variety!

We had another picnic at Buck Creek State Park.

The seagulls are everywhere!

We recently got an electric smoker.  Our first attempt

was a brisket.  These sandwiches were to die for!

Yum, yum!

Looking back where I've been.

♥

Well, Hello!

Slate and me, this morning.

Fingers crossed, life here is just about to get back to normal.

Bathroom renos are completed, my health seems to have settled down

after a weird wild ride, spring has arrived and I'm hoping to get my garden

planted this weekend.  This guy here is a one pleasant constant, though....

puts me to bed every night and wakes me up every morning.

Just look at that face. :)

♥

Gray

Yes, I love it.

It's such a restful color, especially for a bedroom.

And no, this isn't a black and white photo...haha.

How fun that Slate matches so well!

You'd think I'd embrace gray hair and not

color it.  Uh......no. haha.

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Slate

Best seat in the house! :)

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Man Cave

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The Prince and the Pauper

It's like a mirror image, almost!

I did finally put a little dish of food out for this guy after he was here

 three days in a row.  He looks a little leary of me, doesn't he?

Last time I did this was with Peaches, who I fell in love with.

It took me months of befriending him before I tricked him into

 a trap and got him some vet care, a bad tooth pulled, shots, flea

control and neutered.  He disappeared and never came back and

he broke my heart. And it's only been 2 months since Tiger died...

so, I'm a little hesitant to do this again.  Still the poor guy has chosen

to camp out by our back door...mostly to get out of the rain,

I'm guessing.  So, we'll see how this goes!

About 6 of our cats were out there with him,

all obvious friends. ha.  I think I need to name this kitty

so I can give him a 'label' for his posts here. :)

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Me And My Shadow(s)

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The Things Cats Will Do

It doesn't matter if it's a newspaper, laptop,

paperwork or a project....cats will drop

right in the middle of it and get comfortable!

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Today

It was the perfect fall day here in Ohio!

75 degrees, nice breeze, beautiful skies!

I picked up groceries and spent the rest of the day

outside working in the yard.  I planted bulbs, filled

feeders, hung a new bird house, 

and repotted a few plants, all with the help of

my furry friends that crawled out from their shady

bushes to keep me company!  That is, when they

weren't chasing leaves or squirrel watching!

It was so wonderful, I think I'll do it again tomorrow!

♥

National Cat Day

Slate's paws and tail this morning.

I could post a kitty a day for 2 weeks and not repeat. haha.

Happy cat day to all the other feline lovers out there,

especially those that have taken in rescues and ferals and let

them enrich your life.  It's a better world for you and them! 

♥

Butterfly Watching

The butterflies were loving my sedum the other day so

I took my camera, walked around the yard,

 and took some photos.

This gorgeous one is an American Lady.

This blossom seemed to be the most popular!

And look who rolled out from under the flowers!

Slate!

and I love how this Bumble Bee's wings match the flower!

And a Silver-Spotted Skipper!

And a silver colored cat. :)

♥

Fun Facts About Sleep

I read a really fun article about sleep on stumbleupon.com

and thought I'd share some facts I found interesting.

Slate snuggled down in our bed.

The master bedroom bed is always the most snugly, isn't it? 

1. Every mammal, bird, even fish, require sleep to function.
2. While you sleep, your cells repair themselves, your brain recharges and your body releases important hormones.  (I guess this is why you feel like a zombie when you are sleep deprived!)
3. Babies require 16 hours of sleep a day, children 3-18 years old require 10 hours, adults 18- 55 years old require 8 hours.  If you're over 65 years old, your body only needs 6 hours a day!
4. Men have dreams about other men 70% of the time.  Women dream about men and women equally.
5. Parasomnia is a type of sleep disorder where you do things while sleeping which are criminal, such as driving, committing murder and writing bad checks.
6. 12% of people dream only in black and white.  The percentage used to be higher before there was color television!
7. Dreaming is normal.  People who don't dream usually have some kind of personality disorder.
8. One in four married couples sleep in separate beds. (I wonder if this has something to do with snoring. ha.)
9. British soldiers were the first to develop something to help stay awake 36 hours without sleep.  When sleepy, they put on special visors that emulated the brightness of the sun and it woke them up.  (I'm guessing the same theory applies in today's world with people looking at computer screens and reading Kindles before bed and having a hard time sleeping after looking at the light.)
10. Koalas sleep the longest of any mammals, 22 hours a day.  Giraffes sleep the least.  Only 1.9 hours a day in 5-10 minute increments. (Sounds like moms of newborns to me!)
11. When dolphins sleep, half their brain shuts down.  The other half stays awake to help with breathing cycles. (reminds me of mother's of autistic children.  We sleep with one eye open! ha.)
12. You'll die from sleep deprivation before food deprivation!  You'll die from starvation in 2 weeks but just 10 days without sleep can kill you.
13. Within 5 minutes of waking up, 50% of your dream is forgotten. Your dream is 90% forgotten in just 10 minutes. (Don't you hate that?  I always tell myself to remember a dream in the middle of the night, but rarely do I remember it in the morning!)
14. 1 out of 50 teenagers still wet the bed.

And there you have it!

zzzzzzz

♥

A Little Potting Corner

I made myself a spot on the back porch where I can keep my 

gardening stuff.  I needed a place to keep potting soil, pots,

seeds and tools...and a place where I could repot plants.

Last year www.missmustardseed.com shared an idea for using

an old nesting box for shelving and I saved the idea and kept

an eye out for nesting boxes at the auctions.  Unfortunately,

I never found one and the ones for sale on Craig's List were

either more than I wanted to spend or twice as big as I needed.

I ended up finding one on ebay.  It's not vintage, but does the trick!

The table, stool, wood box, crock, drain dish, tray, planters

and pots are all from the auction trash over the years.  And some of

 my new tools were a gift for Mother's Day from Taylor and Lauren. 

Looks pretty good, doesn't it?  I worked out there this afternoon

and it was so convenient to have the bag of potting soil on wheels

and everything at my fingertips.  Now I hope we're done with the

frost at night so my little plants here can stay outside!

That maiden hair fern will come inside, though...I repotted her

and I better put her back in her normal spot or she might

throw a fit and drop her leaves.  Finicky diva...haha...

♥ 

Around Here, Lately

1. We had very strange weather over the weekend.  Snow and 50 mph winds, with gusts up to 80!  Snow and daffodils...a typical Ohio spring!
2. Shrimp thawing.  Looks like a black and white photo, doesn't it? But it isn't!
3. One of the best smells....lemon zest.
4. Another best smell....fresh baked muffins.
5. Cell phone selfie, me running errands..out and about and happy the sun came out. (It usually rains on me on errand day!)
6. Took this while at an auction.  Had just won this pretty tea set.  It isn't in the shop yet....trying to find out more about it first. No markings on the bottom.  Any help would be appreciated!
7. Another fun buy.  I bought it for myself (obvious reasons if you know me) for $3.  Once home, I discovered it was a plate in the series of Fontaine's Fables made in 1880.  This fable is The Sparrow And The Other Birds.  I found two online auction houses asking $275 for plates in the series.   One on clearance for $245. Goodness!
8. Morning light in the back yard.  Snow on sprouting hostas.
9. Slate.

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