Today marks Molly the Cat's sixth anniversary with us. Yup, six years ago, Molly the Cat and I locked eyes as I walked towards the cat adoption fair in the pet store. She seemed to be daring me to choose her instead of old steady calm Pirate with the one eye. As Molly paced back and forth in her cage, glaring at me, I thought, "She looks like a handful." The Husband told me that when he first saw Molly, he thought, "That's a cutie." So it was me that Molly needed to convince to want to pick her up. I'm glad she did. I can't remember what it was like before Molly the Cat, Missy Molly by Golly, came into our lives. The first time Molly graced the blogosphere. These Humans let me sleep anywhere I want. That shed is no more. I loved sitting on its roof and sleeping under its eaves. Once I mark this, it's mine, whatever it is. Walking the fence was fun when I was a youngster. A hunting I shall go, a h

I've heard the Husband say at least twice how much he enjoyed his roast beef sandwich for breakfast this morning. I generally figure every morning that I'll be having a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast. Easy-peasy, you know. Some mornings I surprise the Husband and me by making a hot breakfast. I hadn't planned on it today but I started flipping through a cookbook  because I decided to weed out the cookbook collection. After all how many cookbooks do I need when I'm not one to follow a recipe the way it's written? I didn't know I had a Costco cookbook (I wonder if I got it for free). It has lots of cool photos illustrating short and delicious-sounding recipes from big-time chefs such as Mary Esposito and Jamie Oliver. I found a recipe towards the end of the cookbook that inspired today's breakfast. Coincidentally, the Husband walked into the kitchen as the oven light bulb lit over my head. The poor Husband. I often, if not nearly almost, don't c

Happy Chinese New Year! Today is the first day of the Year of the Dog, a new year on the Chinese lunar calendar. The Dog is one of the 12 symbolic animals in the Chinese zodiac, meaning each animal-year comes up every 12 years.  The rose is one of the lucky flowers for those born in the year of the Dog. Interestingly, 2018 is not such a lucky year for Dogs. Do you want to know more about the Year of the Dog, whether you're a Dog, the Chinese zodiac, or the Chinese lunar calendar? Here's one web page to check out.

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America Travel with Charley: In Search of America is in one of my to-read book piles. It may be the next book I reach for, being that I'm curious to learn what John Steinbeck was seeking as he wandered about the country with his canine pal Charley in 1960. Steinbeck was traveling in the era to which the present administration seems to want to return. You know the "Make America Great Again". Myself, I would rather not return to the age when civil rights for all was not honored by those mean-spirited in power and those cowardly who sided with the powerful.

Filemon the Flying Squirrel fixed his goggles fairly on his face. He took a few deep breaths to steady his fraught nerves. Really, truly, he repeated to himself, he had nothing to fear. So said his friends Bingo and Bubba Byrd who sat beside him. "Filemon, flying is what you are about," said Bingo, patting his shoulder. What if it isn't?" fretted Filemon. "Dude, you're feeling first-time jitters," Bubba said. "I was awfully fidgety before my first flight. But when I took my first hop into flight, oh my folly golly jolly. I was all fat smiles. My wings flung widely. I floated in sunshine. It was fantastic, Filemon!" Filemon found himself feeling quite calm. "Filemon! Filemon! Filemon!" The flying squirrel searched the ground below for the source of the faint cries. There, near the shoreline were his friends jumping up and down on the beach and waving funny red signs. "Filemon!" cheered Agathe the Aardvark .