paws mcgraw and the plants :: a story in four pictures

you should see how hard she is on the pussy willows i picked today. i think she's convinced they are little bitty velvety mice.

wordless wednesday :: moody miss molly

recovering

enjoying the companionship of kittens, even if they spend most of their time swinging from the curtains and not cuddling with me.

it looks like the surgery was a success - the nerve pain is gone, the numbness in my left knee is fading fast and there's no pain in my left leg anymore, aside from a few twinges today which i interpret as a sign of healing. the only place that hurts right now is the site of my actual incision and it confines me more to my bed than i would like. i've been dutifully doing my assigned exercises and going for short walks. it was actually sunny today and it's a balmy 9°C/50°F out there.

i went out and soaked up some vitamin D and captured my long, tall winter shadow, before going back in and resting. standing is ok and lying down is ok, but sitting up is a challenge. as i type this, i'm more of less 3/4 of the way prone, since it's very hard to find a comfortable way to sit with my incision. but it's already itching, so i know that it's healing and it's only a matter of time.

someone is still trying to teach me that lesson in patience and maybe i'm finally getting it.

cat love revisited

lady, you sound familiar, but i'm not sure i know you. - fizz

ginny is growing up into a lovely young lady

i visited a good friend today.  this friend and i have that kind of friendship that i call cat love. we don't see one another that often, but when we do, we have a great connection and immediately can fall into comfortable and often deep conversation. we can tell each other the dark thoughts that are hard to admit out loud as well as laugh about the silliest things. i always go away thinking that we need to spend much more time together than we do, with our busy lives. and apropos cat love, she's the one who provided a new home for ginny & fizz, our spring kittens. they're so playful and cute and growing up nicely and are as happy as can be in their new surroundings. i think they recognized me by my kittty voice. anyway, we had an afternoon full of laughter, deep conversation and plenty of coffee. just what we were both in need of.

the view from sunday night

some time spent with sharpies. as a person who is utterly unable to sit down and meditate, the adult coloring books are the next best thing. precisely what i needed late friday afternoon.

frieda, with her eye on a bird out the window. she brought in two live ones, one dead and also released a live mouse in the house. she's very thoughtful and so hopes that pretty soon we'll catch on ourselves and she'll have to stop working so hard.

on saturday, betty went her new home with a young girl who appreciates her. it's always good to know you've found a good home for the horse. with the child away at efterskole, we decided we'd go out for dinner. we tried the newly renovated kro in billund and it was brilliant. totally unexpected for billund, but they have apparently hired a real chef and they made truly delicious, exciting, innovative food that delighted us and made us think and prompted conversation. this photo above, however, is our sunday night dinner at home - steak & halloumi tacos using authentic corn tortillas from the mexican food truck that now comes to...you guessed it...billund (it's like billund is almost a real place now) on thursdays. with mild temps and some sunshine, and a whole afternoon moving hostas (20 of them), i feel rejuvenated by the weekend. and maybe just a small bit of that spark i've been missing is creeping back in.

the fun you make for yourself

there were a million words in my head last night. i don't know why i didn't wrestle them to the page. nor do i know where they have gone. i'd like to think they're not gone, just hiding from me at the moment. 

yesterday had its moments. some very good and some less so. most days are like that, i suppose. but there was sunshine and i had some fun in the garden mixing it up with a bit of lego - bunny suit guy on a star wars at-at? the unicorn sparkle fairy riding a dino? those make me smile. juxtapositions. the unexpected. i like that. i also like that i almost always have at least one cat who wants to help when i'm out taking photos. we have to find our joy in the little things around us and our fun in the fun we make for ourselves. because you can't really rely on someone else to do it for you. it really does all come back to you.

* * *

8 authors give their advice on writing.

and i think karl ove knausgård might be my boyfriend.

100 happy days :: day 98

trying to take a fetching photo of my summery lunch when along comes frannie to help.

100 happy days :: day 93

ginny's eyes are open.

and isn't she just a little lump of pure happiness?

100 happy days :: day 83

two years ago today, frieda badida was born

she was molly's last kitten.

poor little molly was so tired by then that i had to gently wipe away the membrane so she could breathe.

i'm so glad i did.

she's quirky, sweet and wonderful.

and only occasionally expects to be let in the window at 4 a.m.

happy birthday frieda.

* * *

so many things tumbling in my mind to write about...ghosts, communing with the dead, what makes a good marriage (can you tell i'm listening to podcasts?), getting older, fears, plants, asparagus, peonies, gardening in general, memory, foxes, chickens, feathers all over the yard, buffy the vampire slayer, magic, painting, children becoming who they are, schools, whether it's ok to be the smart one, boarding school, summer holiday, content management systems, kittens...i could go on, but right now, it's all jumbled up. 

* * *

elvendale, not just where the LEGO elves hang out. 

scanagram* aka my new obsession

i can't find the link now, but a few weeks ago, i saw some photos of cats perched on a scanner and i decided i wanted to try it. today, during my bunny photoshoot, i remembered and popped the baby bunnies onto the scanner to give it a try. i also tried scanning tobias, but a full grown cat just doesn't look as cute scanned as a baby bunny at peak cuteness does. and then afterwards, i just started scanning whatever was at hand...nail polish and minifigs. there will undoubtedly be more tomorrow.

* with thanks and full credit to molly for the name scanagram.

100 happy days :: day 25

muddy pawprints. husband hates them, but they make me smile. of course, that's because it's not me who does the painting around here...

100 happy days :: day 10

today's happy? this cute face, jerry (his brother is ben), returned. we hadn't seen him since the end of september. i do wonder where he was all that time. he was very happy to see me today and i was happy to see him. he's half wild, but i am allowed to reach up to the loft and rub him under his chin when he inches close enough to the edge. when it looks like i'm going to stop, he reaches out for my hand with his paw. that was our routine before he left and he resumed it today, just as if nearly six months hadn't gone by.

100 happy days :: day 9

finally. a day of sunshine and no wind. a real spring day. husband had a day off and we finally moved that row of asparagus that was way too close to the rhubarb. these are asparagus roots that we started from seed our second year here. how they're 4 years old and very substantial. we hope moving them won't have traumatized them too much and that they'll have a good season. dad had loads of asparagus in his garden and he was known for it all over town, so having a long row of healthy asparagus roots makes me feel very happy. i know that if he was able to see our project today, he was smiling.

the bees were very happy as well and the air was alive with their buzzing. there are plenty of crocus up and they were feeding greedily and cleaning out their hives. great to see that all four hives were buzzing (literally) with activity. we had a mild winter, so we expected them to be just fine, but it's nice to know it for sure.

molly loved that we were in the garden and obviously also loved the sunshine. she snoozed on a warm roof tile (it's part of a cover we put over our artichokes to keep them from being killed by the hard frosts. it was a perfect spot to relax in the sun.

today's happinesses. very simple, but somehow profound. spring is wonderful.

100 happy days :: day 7

frankie - we miss you so, handsome boy!

this has been circulating on facebook and when it appeared in my nytimes "what we're reading" email this week, i knew i had to go through my extensive cat photo library and put together some then & now shots. and they are also today's happy. because having cats makes me happyl

molly - our minnesota kitty

frieda - from molly's first batch of kittens

tobias - we got him from a neighbor, so i don't have photos of him as a tiny kitten. he's our most dog-like cat.

scout - from molly's second (and final, since she's now fixed) batch of kittens

100 happy days :: day 6

last night i woke up soon after falling asleep, my throat covered in those strange dry spots that feel like you've swallowed a bunch of tiny little towels and which signal the onset of a cold. a dull headache soon followed. just breathing in made the dry spots worse, so i got up and made some licorice tea. i've learned to love licorice for its soothing quality. and licorice tea is naturally sweet and doesn't even need any honey, tho' i added a spoonful for its soothing quality as well. i figured doubling up on soothing was best. i tried to go back to sleep, but husband was snoring and it proved impossible for far too long. i must have eventually fallen asleep, but when i awoke this morning, the headache was still there and so was the sore throat. all of this is making today's happinesses seem a bit hard to come by. but, even with a headache, that is usually remedied by taking a good look around me through the lens of my camera.

right now, the little bitty dining room we fixed up last autumn makes me happy. there are a few baggy bubbles in the wallpaper (we just painted, we didn't redo it) and the carpet is utter shit (but odin only knows what's under it), but still, it is a happy and comfortable space. i love our green secondhand chairs and that oh-so-80s table, which used to reside in the city hall and which we got for a song. i love the blue felt table runner and the thrifted candle holders. and the little bowl (also thrifted) filled with scraps from a quilting project that make a perfect nest and some glass easter eggs that i've had for 26 years. and a few springy bulbs in the bowl i bought years ago in nogales. photo memories in colorful frames line one wall and art and maps the others. we eat dinner here. we entertain here. we play cards and board games here. this room can be quiet and contemplative or filled with laughter and love. it is a happy room.

and then there is this cat. frieda. she expects a rather high level of service, but she's also a clown and a sweetheart and she makes me happy.

* * *

maggie may's post on finding meaning in life was wonderful.

let sleeping cats lie

cats really know how to nap. i could use a lesson or two in that. i haven't gotten much sleep lately, i'll admit. i could really use a nap. like maybe for a whole month.

cat person

you've probably noticed that i'm a cat person. cats have the sort of personalities that appeal to me. they don't necessarily come when they're called. they can take ages to reveal their names to you. they think for themselves. they never ingratiate themselves. when they relax, they are truly relaxed. they play hard and then they take a nap. and in nyc, there's now a cat café for those who can't have a cat (or two or ten) in their lives. i wish i'd thought of that. it would be fun to run a cat café. hmm...what's stopping me from doing exactly that? i have cats and make a pretty mean dessert to go with a cup of coffee. it could be a calling...