We are on a new adventure—the Mama, Molly the Cat, the Husband, and I. The Mama's body is failing. Thank goodness, her spirit is not. She's stubborn. That's a positive. Yesterday afternoon, she faced reality. She fell! "You need to use the walker," I exclaimed. "No! The dead people used it," she said, referring to the walker gathering dust in the garage. She used it once upon a time when she was healing from a broken hip. Somewhere along the line she let a friend borrowed it, which his wife returned after he died. "We will get you another one," I said. It was 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Fortunately, for us, we found a bare-basic walker, without the sparkles and whistles, at the pharmacy. Thankfully for us,  the Mama allowed herself to use the walker. I loved that at one point, as she slowly made her way down the hallway, she stamped her feet and scolded her legs for not working with her. Last night, Molly the Cat gave the M

Tweeeet! Tweeeeeet! Translation:  Hurry, hurry! Get away, get away! Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp! Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp! Chirp, chirp, chirrrrrrrrrrp! Translation: What was that? What does she want? I'm hungry!   Molly the Cat smiles. Lips smack. Tail swishes. Translation: Mmmmmmmmmmmm.  Molly settles in the wet grass, beneath the bird feeder. She watches the feeder swing back and forth and listens to the rustling of leaves as the little birds make their way up the tree. Not to worry little birds. Molly the Cat loves to stalk you, crouch low, and pounce towards the tree. That's it though. She has no idea that she's supposed to catch you.  She's merely getting her jollies for the morning. Tweeet, tweet, chirpppp, chirrp, tweet! Swishhhhhhh! Molly the Cat and I are linking up with ABC Wednesday , hosted by Roger Green and the ABCW team. Click here to check out what other participants are writing about the letter J and/or to participat

One of the things Molly the Cat likes to check out when she goes out to the backyard is a bucket full of water that sits next to the patio. I wonder if she sees what I see in the bucket. Today I'm participating in Our World Tuesday . Click here to join in and/or to see what's going in other parts of the world.

Today I'm participating in the Friday's Hunt , a new weekly meme hosted by Teresa of Eden Hills . You have until Sunday to hook up. Click here to join and/or to check out the participants. It's trés fun! Now, on with my finds. Starting with B That's the Mama's tiny banana grove in August. It didn't get as full as usual last year because of the drought. The grove usually yields two to five banana blossoms, which the Mama sometimes harvest for us to eat. Sometimes tiny bananas grow, but the cool weather sets in before they can ripen. Here's what the banana grove looks like today. I pruned the dried tops of the banana stalks (Are they called trunks?) last week. They'll grow back by Spring. Hopefully. This is the first year I pruned the grove without the Mama's instructions. Week's Favorite Molly the Cat yawned just as I snapped the camera. I think she did it on purpose. She doesn't care for me taking photos of her. I wonder

I didn't notice the good-luck jade plants growing next to the Mama's red rose bush by the patio until I started playing with this photo in Photoshop. Now, why did I think the jade plant in the front yard is the only one sporting white flowers? Silly me. The red rose was what caught my eye the other morning when Molly the Cat and I went out to stalk a squirrel we saw tiptoeing along the fence. A bird distracted Molly from the squirrel. Not good hunters are we. Which is just as well. After all, what would we do with the squirrel had we caught it.  Fortunate squirrel. From the Husband, the Mama, Molly the Cat, and Me, Su- sieee! Mac:     Happy Holidays!

See Molly the Cat. See her sleep. She sleeps on what once was the Mama's favorite chair to sit when she read the newspaper or her novels and biographies. The once-upon-a-time favorite chair of the Mama's is now one of Molly's favorite places to nap. I don't think the Mama cares that Molly has taken over her chair. There's no more daily paper to read. We stopped it because it cost over $80 a month for mostly advertisements and selected pieces of old news. We still get the weekly local paper, which the Mama reads on the sofa between watcher her favorite games on television. Maybe the Mama will reclaim her chair from Molly if she decides to read her books when the weather gets too cold and wet to go outside. We shall see. 

Today ends the round of Alphabe Thursday hosted by the wonderful Mrs. Jenny Matlock. It's also the final round of the meme.  Jenny has decided to retire it due to her health, which I hope the doctors can resolve very soon. Thank you, Jenny, for being you. My theme this round has been the Places I've Been . Hence, for the letter Z, I give you some of the places that almost always put me in my Happy Zone. In the Water ~ Photo taken by the Husband. In Hawaii ~ Photo taken by the Husband. In the Mama's Garden At a Library (or Bookstore) Wherever the Husband and I Dance ~ Photo taken by Lisa Q. Any W here Tilda-Hilda and I Ride Around the House with Molly the Cat Any Place with the Mama And, Most of All, Everywhere with the Husband ~Photo taken by a friendly woman amused at our antics.   There you go, my letter Z for Alphabe Thursday . To join in or to read other Z posts,

"You want to go outside?" Molly the Cat was sniffing at the front door, as I came down the stairs. I opened the door and out she tumbled into the morning. The ground was wet from yesterday's rain, but she managed to find her way through the maze of flowers to the sidewalk and her favorite patch of grass. The lawn, by the way, is starting to look like a lawn again. Thank you, rain! Molly had no interest in walking beyond the flowers. She would've seen the rainbow, if she had. "Stop with the camera," said Molly, turning back to the house. "It's time for food."

I wonder if Molly the Cat knows that she's a cat. Does she think we are different-looking cats? Or, maybe she thinks she's a human. Does she ever wonder why we're in charge of food, and, why we can't always get right what food she truly likes. The Husband wondered about the time she was stalking a mouse and whether she thought she was shopping for food. Did she wish she had a shopping cart? Molly is sleeping at the top of the stairs as I'm writing. She has a new routine of coming upstairs in the evening. Earlier this week, she was having tummy problems, and it was cold downstairs, so I brought her upstairs to sleep with us, if she liked. She did and does. She generally waits until we're both asleep before she jumps onto the bed. In the early morning, I've waken up to find her squeezed between us or settled into the back of my knees when I'm on my side. Sweet Molly the Cat.

My Alphabe Thursday theme: Places I've Been The Husband and I drove over to the coast this afternoon to buy food for Molly the Cat. It was something neither of us wanted to do, but Molly ate her last can of food this morning. Yes, we have a very particular cat. She would rather go hungry then eat something that doesn't taste or smell good to her. But, Molly the Cat is not the story today. The clouds are the story. They were swimming, running, tumbling, dancing, and singing across the perfect blue sky. You see, it rained last night. Hallelujah! It rained throughout the night. Whooo-hooo! And it rained some this morning. Yippee!   All that wonderful rain left us with clear blue skies and whipped-cream like clouds. And, because the Husband was driving, I took photos. I was good at first, sitting primly (I heard that snort of a laugh) in my seat shooting photos through the passenger window and the windshield.  Before I knew it, I was leaning out the window.

“Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, “What road do I take?” The cat asked, “Where do you want to go?” “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it really doesn’t matter, does it?”  ~ Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

What happened? My serious—as opposed to maybe I'll do it—To-Do-List got very long just now. Yuck. All I can do is do what I can. And, stop now and then and play with Molly the Cat. That's very important for my sanity. I like this photo of Molly. Can you tell it was taken upside-down?  Molly seems to like the camera that way. By the way that fleshy stump next to her is my leg. Until tomorrow.

This morning, Molly the Cat sat happily at the edge of the driveway, admiring the grass. She had not yet decided which blades to eat when she heard the growl of a truck. She went into a ready-mode attack pose. She watched the truck slowly make its way up the street and pass our driveway. "Beep! Beep!" The truck driver waved at us. Molly the Cat gave the truck and its driver her best stink eye. Today is Molly the Cat's birthday, according to the papers that came home with her. She's five years old.  Whoo-hooo! I wonder what she would like for her birthday.

The Mama was playing in the mud this morning. Her favorite thing to do. Okay, she was replanting  Filipino onions, which she does every several weeks. The Mama likes to say, "You cannot fool me." And that's what I say. The Mama cannot fool me. She's playing in the mud and she's having lots of fun out there. Yup, she's still out there as I'm writing this post. While the Mama was playing with her onions, Molly the Cat did her rounds of the backyard. She was late this morning. She sat on the chair, which was once the Mama's favorite chair, for the longest time after breakfast. The Mama asked her, "Are you sick, Molly?  Do you have a headache?" The Mama opened the back door and Molly the Cat jumped off the chair in no time. "Don't go far," said the Mama. I think Molly wanted her photo taken because she kept close to me while I was clicking away by the lemon tree. But, would she look prettily at the camera? Of course, n

"I own all that I see," says Molly, sashaying down the paths of the Mama's garden. I've caught her eating bean leaves and sitting happily in a box of green onions. When I scold and shoo her from the veggies, she retorts, "You have no business telling me what to do." Glaring at me, Molly kindly moves away from where she's not supposed to be.

10.  I feel like numbering. No reason. 9.  Molly the Cat chased a rat in the backyard yesterday evening. I opened the sliding door. Flash! Out went Molly. She hid behind two planters, her tail wagging. Zoom! There went a black rat. Jeez. 8.  I tell myself that there's no reason to be scared of rats. 7.  Shudder. 6.  Molly wouldn't follow me into the garage as I took out the garbage. 5.  No reason to be scared of rats. 4.  I wish I hadn't seen the rat. 3.  I cannot pretend that I saw the rat. 2.  If Molly catches the rat, she's going to rush it into the house. 1.  Shudder.

Molly the Cat, Huntress. Now, that would be a nice calling card for the feline. She's very good at catching bugs. She has bagged a couple of birds. That fell out of trees. The Mama has decreed Molly the chaser of squirrels for the backyard. One squirrel (maybe more) has been eating the apricots in the tree. Once the squirrel eats part of an apricot, it falls. The Mama has lined the gnawed fruit beneath the tree as evidence. The other day, the Mama told me that Molly guarded the apricot tree all afternoon. But, still the squirrel ate the apricots. This morning, Molly was hanging out on the front lawn when she heard something crackle behind her. She immediately went into stealth mode. Two doves flew out of the tree! Molly whooooooossshhhed across the yard and amazingly came to a halt in the shade of the car. The doves were on the fence. Did the doves know she was there? Molly swished her tail in anticipation. One dove flew off. It was now or never. Molly ran forwar