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

This is a close-up of the petals of the first California poppy that I saw this year, back in February. Dear friend Jennifer said the lines of the poppy reminded her of a Georgia O'Keefe painting, and suggested that I zoom in on the petals, crop, and play with what I saw. Most definitely! Georgia O'Keefe is one of my favorite artists. I love all of her phases, from her early years in New York to her later, and more familiar, years in New Mexico. Many years ago, I dropped everything to trek down to Los Angeles to see an exhibit of Ms. O'Keefe's works. Wowza! Here's the photo that I took of the poppy. Isn't the poppy gorgeous? Maybe one day, I'll try painting a close-up of its petals with actual brush and paints. I'm linking up with Seasons , hosted by Jeanette of St Germain's Blog, and the Creative Every Day Challenge , hosted by Leah of Creative Every Day.  I hope you'll go visit both memes.

The Mama flanked by the Cousins! Indeed, yes. The Mama, the Husband, and I are in good spirits today. I think Molly the Cat may be, too. She got to eat roast chicken for lunch. The Mama is so in the pink that she did not complain about going to the doctor's this afternoon to get her shot for her anemia. Yaay! We had an impromptu visit from the Cousins on the Mama's side of the family. We don't see them often, but when we do, it's loads of happy conversation and laughter over a meal. That, I think, was the best medicine for the Mama today. It's the letter I on ABC Wednesday , a fun weekly meme started by Denise Nesbitt several years ago, and continued onward by Roger Green and the ABCW team. Check out the other participants, and maybe join in yourself, by clicking here . I'm also sharing at Warm Heart Wednesday , a meme hosted by Jenny Matlock at Off on my Tangent. Click here to visit.

Heartily, I say. Rain. We have been getting lots of heavenly rain since March began and it ought to continue through the whole month. It surely is helping the lessening (such a word?) of our drought. Blue skies. The kind that comes after a rain. Delightful. Fruit trees in bloom. Beautiful! Totally.  That's the Asian pear tree in the Mama's backyard.  If all goes well, we many have another good crop this year.   And, green! It's emerald green all over. We truly are blessed. Today, I'm sharing with Our World Tuesday and a new meme called Seasons , hosted by Jeanette at St. Germain's Blog.  Take a look at both, why don't you?

It's time to get back into the swing of participating in Teresa's Friday photo hunt meme at her blog, Eden Hills . This week the hunt was for photos interpreting the letter J, week's favorite, and a cuppa. A Cuppa Joe I drank a sweet, amazing cup of mocha this afternoon, the first taste of coffee in more than three weeks. As I sipped my personality quickly changed to big smiles, floating contentment, and yakity-yak. Ahhhhhhh. If some of you are wondering, I'm still on my No-this, No-that food program. After 16 days, I'm  allowing myself a treat now and then. So, while we were doing our Saturday errands, the Husband and I stopped at our favorite cafe, Vertigo Coffee , in San Juan Bautista. The above photo isn't of today's wonderful creations by Ryan, but of the amazing mocha's that we had on my birthday in December. If you're ever in San Juan Bautista or passing through the area, check out Vertigo Coffee. The cafe also serves delicious artis

Last month, while I had Gone Reading, I came across the drawing I made in first grade that started me on my path of fear of drawing, painting, and doing anything in the fine arts. "Make the calves touch the ground," wrote First Grade Teacher. She even drew an example of a calf on the ground on my drawing. Sigh. Many moons later, I realize that First Grade Teacher was merely doing her job to make sure I knew that cows belonged on the ground and not in air. Teacher did give me an A for the assignment after all. But, it would've been nice if she had also written something like "You have a wonderful imagination, Susie." Or, "The cows look happy in the air. How would they look standing on the ground?" If only. Three or four years ago, I began to embrace art. To simply draw, paint, make collages, and whatever I feel like trying. The more I do, the less time I stay in a frozen-in-fear mode at the start of a project. Better late than never, right

I'm feeling productive and accomplished right at the moment. I worked in the garden with the Mama for 90 minutes, as well as took a ride on Tilda-Hilda this morning.  Whooo-weee. My "No-this, No-that Food Program" must be working. I got a lot of energy on this 15th day. It also helped that I fell asleep at 9:30 last night. Zzzzzzzz.  Because I want Tilda-Hilda and me to be able pedal our longer routes, I decided this morning we had to tackle our first hill. Heck, simply pedaling the first block on flat land had me wanting to go home. Puff, puff. We rode 5.77 miles in about 36 minutes. We stopped several times so I could take photos of the gorgeous views this morning. Would you like to see the most amazing sight we saw this morning?  Click here then. Tilda-Hilda says, "See you in a week or so after the rain." Yipppieee!