Meet Shelley. She's a little sprite who showed her shadow on a saucer plate beneath Avocado Tree Number Three. Shelley insisted that she be sketched. What could I say?

This morning I was trapped in bed between Molly the Cat and The Husband, both sound asleep. Smiles on their faces. Dreams in their hearts. Musical notes danced from their noses. I wanted to get up. That Girl woke me up when she jumped and thumped onto the bed. After doing her settling-in kneading and drooling on the sheet (TMI?), she curled into a snug ball and pressed herself firmly against my side. So much for personal space. Later. I really wanted to get up. Still against my side, now upside down, Molly was stretched from around my shoulder to nearly my knee. She laid partway on her back and partway on her side in that twisted way of cats. Her bottom half was on her back with her feet turned away from me and her tummy wide open for the universe to see. (They are so cute, Molly's feet are.) Her front half was on her side, facing towards me with her arms stretched way far. (That cute little nose.) How could I interrupt such a pose from sleep? With luck, I thought, the

My theme for #23 Round of ABC Wednesday: Signs & Such of San Benito County, California We all like to go back to a restaurant that makes us drool when we think about the food we had there. Don't you agree? In my county, J.J.'s Burgers in San Juan Bautista is that kind of place for me when it comes to a burger. Garlic fries, too. Drooooooool. J is the featured letter today on ABC Wednesday . Click here to read about this weekly meme, and click here for this week's list of participants.  Thank you, ABCW Team!

It has been 15 years since The Husband and I moved out of the San Francisco Bay Area, which, depending on where we want to go, a 30-minute to two hour-or-so drive away. Lately we have been wandering a bit further into the Bay Area maze. Molly the Cat probably wonders what has gotten into us. She, after all, gets stuck indoors when the humans are at play. The increased number of offensive drivers on the freeway has made driving no longer fun, so we've been trying out BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to get beyond San Jose. The nearest BART station is about an hour's drive to the north of us. It's not too much of a white-knuckle drive to get there. Right now the cost for our tickets is equivalent to about a tank of gas. Totally worth it. No fuss, no stress.  Looking out the train window as we headed east away from Oakland, I watched cars on the highway swish frantically pass each other. In a few months I'll turn 65 and be eligible for the senior discount. Hurrah!

I overheard Missus Lady and Hero Man talking about whether to grow a couple of small patches of grass for me to lounge in the back yard. That's nice of them, but it doesn't really matter to me. Besides I rather like that they can't find me right away. Purrrrrrrrrrr.

The paints came out last week. Splash! Splish! A blue elephant now dances across a dinner plate. A once-upon-a-time metal spoon holder now pirouettes in the breeze. This morning the Husband set up the portable table outside so I can play at being an artist. I envision a white pan being painted into a turtle, chicken wire being mangled into the shape of an elephant, and a branch being cut and put back together into something, maybe an asterisk. If any of those things turn out well, it becomes my entry for garden art in next month's county fair. We shall see. Time again for All Seasons , a weekly meme hosted by Jesh of The Jesh Studio , which is where I'm heading to share my post. Click here to check out Jesh. For the participants list, click here . Thanks, Jesh!