Molly the Cat doesn't like the sound of plastic bags being shook, opened, or crinkled. Yet, there she was the other morning playing and exploring on the painter's plastic sheeting. Lovely Molly. Doesn't she almost look like she's playing in snow?

With all the open space, in the house and out in the back, this is where sweet Molly the Cat likes to snooze lately. Zzzzzzzz. Purrrrrrrrrrr. Zzzzzzzzzzz. Purrrrrrrrrr. Both Molly and I agreed to skip this week's movie review for ABC Wednesday . It wasn't hard to find a movie that fits the letter X , mind you . We definitely had one ( Ex Machina ). We thought the story line was much too dark for the holidays. Maybe Molly will write about it for the next go round of movie reviews that she decides to do. Click here to check out this week's ABC Wednesday. Thanks, ABCW team! Merry Xmas! and Happy Holidaze!

Hint: Find the watermark, and gaze downwardly.    Giggle.  Purrrrrrrrr.  

Yes, I know. I look cute hanging out in my cute surroundings.  If you please, I would like to continue my nap in peace.  Perhaps you would like to go read my movie reviews . Purrrrrrrrrrr.   

Missy Molly plopped herself down in my path for her first morning purrrr! and petting. Pretty Molly. " Mew! Where do think you're going? I want breakfast." "I want to do this first," I said, opening the back door to the chilly morning. I leaned out the door, talked into the air, and watched for poofs of cold breath to float away. Nothing. "Good," I said, opening the door wider. Molly scurried to the south and I limped to the north with a bucket full of dumb cane. Dieffenbachia to some. A few weeks ago, I finally took the overgrown dumb cane out of its pot. Wowza, I tell you. The plant's thick tangled roots completely filled the medium-sized pot. Sorry guy. It is the sole descendant of the original plant that the Husband received as a gift in the mid-1970s. From this successor of a dieffenbachia, I pulled apart about a dozen more descendants. I also snapped pieces from two or three tall stalks to try growing more that way. With luck a

The Husband I have taken to conversing with Molly the Cat, responding as her in what we each imagine is her sweet, cute high-pitched voice. "You don't like your food," one of us humans says. "No," says Molly the Cat. "We try to find something you would like to eat." "Phiff." "You used to eat it." "Then you haven't found what I like to eat." I'm sure that if she wasn't so polite, Molly would've added "have you?"

According to the Missus Lady, if you asked the Mama, who I knew as the Tiny Old Lady, "What have you been doing?" and she happened to be very tired, she would answer, "I have been to see the queen." I miss the Little Old Lady. Mewwwwwww Queen of Katwe (2016) Setting: Katwe, a slum in the city of Kampala Uganda This movie is based on the life of Phiona Matessi, an Ugandan chess queen. This young woman won several junior chess championships in Uganda, as well as represented the country in four Chess Olympiads, which are tournaments with teams from various countries. What is very inspiring about Phiona's story is that the odds were quite high against her learning to play chess when you consider her circumstances. Mewwww. Phiona and her family lived in a large slum called Katwe. When she was nine years old, she had to leave school because her father had died and the family could no longer afford to send her to school. She was also needed to help care fo

I'm tired of writing about movies. But, I have to say something. Missus Lady says so. She says she's not filling in for me like last time.  So, okay. The other day Missus Lady received a surprise package from Miss Georgy (You rock!) of Jubilee Street . In it were sweet stuff including a couple of blank journals and blank postcards to invite creativity. Purrrrrrrrrr.  This morning Missus Lady and Hero Man painted postcards in the backyard.  She painted an island, I think, while he painted Me! Purrrrrrrrrrr. A note from Su-sieee! Mac: This week the theme is the letter P on ABC Wednesday . Click here to check out what bloggers from around the world have written. Thank you,  ABCW team! P.S. Maybe Molly will be back with a movie review next week.

I love a movie with penguins. Who wouldn't, I ask you? Who? Maybe owls. This movie stars a dog. Rrrrfh . I like dogs. My first friends and protectors were dogs. I love dogs. Rrrfh . Sometimes Missus Lady and Hero Man remark how much like a dog I am. My Humans so know me. Rrrrfh. Oddball and the Penguins (2015) Setting: Middle Island off the coast of Warrnambool, Australia Fairy penguins do indeed have a breeding colony on Middle Island off the southwestern coast of Australia. And, Oddball was an actual maremma sheepdog who saved the colony of fairy penguins from dying off on Middle Island in 2006. So, purrrrrrr , this movie is inspired by a true heart-warming tale. Why were the fairy penguins dying off? How did the farmer who owned Oddball knew he could protect the penguins? Also, who among the townspeople didn't want the little penguins to flourish, and why didn't they? I love this movie. Rrrrfh! Purrrrrrrrrrr. A note from Su-sieee! Mac: The letter O

Sir Billy Connolly is one of the Missus Lady's favorite actors. Until she saw Mrs Brown , she thought of Connolly as being that Scottish actor in a 1980s high school sitcom who played the teacher of a class of specially smart, and troubled, kids in New York City. It was when the Humans first signed up for Netflix that Missus Lady got on a Billy Connolly kick and came to realize how versatile an actor he is. The Man Who Sued God (2001) Setting: Some place in Australia Steve (so wonderfully interpreted by Billy Connolly) is a lawyer turned fisherman. Not sure if he does it for a living or just says that's what he does. One day his fishing boat is struck by lightening. Ka-Bloom! The insurance company tells him that they will not honor his claim because it was destroyed by an Act of God. Oh-oh. Steve sees red. And, sues! But, who does he sue? Uhm...the churches. Yup. Steve sues the churches because they are God's representatives on Earth. How are the churches g

We've been quite busy this week getting everything ready for a  party this Saturday. Missus Lady and Hero Man will be celebrating their #21 anniversary. It's a casual affair at the house.  There are so many things to do, but the Humans don't seem too concerned that they've only done a few things. Missus Lady is learning that it takes her longer to do things and that she poops out sooner. Not sure what Hero Man thinks, but he does seem to be having fun.  Boxes still line one wall of the living room. Missus Lady says that if she moves the boxes, then something will have to go into that space. Neither want to think about what can fill the space, and they do want to fill it to cover the dark spot I left when I used to lie there. When Missus Lady thinks the boxes can stay where they are, she says, "Let's go with being thought of as eclectic." We shall see. Purrrrrrrrrrr. Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) Setting: Feudal Japan We love this movie! All t

The Humans own the movie I'm writing about today, one of the few that they actually see over and over. This is one of the Missus Lady's favorite musicals. Maybe top favorite. Every so often she breaks out singing "I've just been to the windy city" (usually while cooking or cleaning) and if Hero Man is nearby, he joins in. Happy sounds!  Yeah, they like to sing along during the movie.  The movie was made in 1953, the year that the Missus Lady was born. She said she first saw the movie when she was a teenager so all the Indian-and-Cowboy stuff was your regular movie rigmarole. She knows better today, she said. All in all, she likes this movie because of the songs and she loves how much fun Doris Day had singing and dancing as Calamity Jane. Calamity Jane Setting: The Dakota Territory in mid-1870s to 1880s. I think without the musical stuff, the story would be considered a screwball comedy in the best way. Girl loves boy (not Wild Bill Hickcock) who loves

Emphasis on the word incredible , because this post is, after all, for the letter I for ABC Wednesday. The film I'm talking about today is incredible, no doubt about it. You know what else is incredible? The changing weather patterns. Incredible Harvey. Incredible Irma. And, the incredible high temperatures we had over the weekend. Depending on who was talking, it was 106, 116, or 119 degrees last Saturday. It was so hot I didn't want to eat. Not move a tiny bit at all. I kinda wished the Missus Lady would've shaved me. And, now, tonight, it got so cool, I snuggled on the couch next to the Missus Lady, who was under her comforter. Sacré bleu!   Mewwwwwww. Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance (2015) Setting: Cefn Ffirest, Wales, a once-upon-a-time mining village This is a documentary about a bunch of working class people who pooled their money to purchase a racehorse to breed and raise her foal into a winning racehorse. They called themselves t

Molly the Cat can't stand the heat. Neither can the Husband and me. Nor can the computer. The last couple of mini heat waves were simply high temps. Now Mother Nature has added another element—humidity. (Or is it us humans that has created the change?) Bleack . It's very unusual for our neck of the woods. Poor Molly under all that fur. She looks at me and questions why I'm not doing anything about the heat. Kweippppp! Time to hook up at All Seasons , a weekly meme open from Sunday to Wednesday, hosted by Jesh at Artworks from Jesh StG. Click here to join in or to read the tales of other participants. Thanks, Jesh!

Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap. . . . Molly the Cat stopped and quickly turned towards the sound of the noise. She watched a big bear of a teenage boy running on the sidewalk across the street. Where was Molly several minutes beforehand when a noise behind me caught my attention. I watched a young man roll down the street on his skateboard holding to the leash of his running big bear of a dog. Mornings are wonderful around here. It's the letter P today on ABC Wednesday . Click here to check what other bloggers from around the world are writing, por favore signoras e signores. Thanks, ABCW team!

"Tell me everything will be all right," I said to the Husband. "Everything will be all right," he said. I like to be reassured now and then. Molly the Cat looked over at me. "Everything will be Okay, Lady." Purrrrrrrrrrr. It's a day late for ABC Wednesday . Better late than never. Click here to check out the participants. Thanks, ABCW team!  Oh, the theme this week is the letter O.  

Molly the Cat leads me out the front door before breakfast most mornings. "Go see what needs to be done," she telepathically prompts me as she begins her patrol of the perimeter. "No cats here," she sniffs. "Ooooh, ladybug." I check out new flower seed sprouts, note what sprouts need to be thinned and where I might replant them, bend over and pull up weeds, and so forth and so on. Sometimes the Molly's and my morning routine lasts a few minutes, especially when it's cold or rainy. "Forget this," says Molly when she quickly does an about-face several feet from the front door. Other times, we're out there for an hour or so, weeding, planting, digging, watering and whatever this heart pleases. Now and then Molly circles me to make sure I'm doing a decent job. What I like the most is looking up from my task and seeing Molly lying near by, eyes closed and body purring in the the sun bubbles. I feel like I'm doing the

These evenings, one of Molly the Cat's favorite perches, after consuming a bunch of dental treats, is her post that sits on top of a coffee table. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  I think if the girl could talk, she'd tell me to stop with the camera already.  Murrrrrrrrrrrrrr.   It's the letter M at ABC Wednesday . Click here for more M posts. Thanks, ABCW team!

I feel like a mad agronomist (as in mad scientist). Also, a mad farmer. This morning I started vegetable seeds indoors. If these seeds take, I guess we're having a vegetable garden. This is the first time I'm trying this pre-spouting step. Usually, I throw the seeds in the ground. Comme ci, comme ça. (Showing off the little French I recall from one semester of Francais.) I don't know what got into me this morning. Maybe it was wondering what to do with the several hundred tiny paper cups that are in the closet. You know how that is. You can't find the package of paper cups that you thought you bought so you figured you didn't buy them. So, you go buy a package and a few days later, voilå, there is that first package of paper cups. What seeds did I plant? Sitting in that orange container are 16 tiny cups of bean seeds. The seeds are from the Mama's last vegetable garden in 2015. They're quite tiny because of that year's drought. I'm guessin

"I'm going around the corner," said Molly. "That's where I'll find Spring." Molly and I are linking up with All Seasons , a fun weekly meme hosted by Jesh who blogs at Artworks from JeshSTG . Click here to check out her blog and the meme.