This and that, that and this

 Minnie smelling the roses.

We're almost halfway through the year, can you believe that?

Weather report:  Our weather moved out of the broil zone.  Of course, that means the "marine layer" sticks around most of the morning; but it also means we are no longer considering whether we could fit in the freezer at the supermarket, or other creative measures.

Gourmet corner:  Today I'm attempting to use as much excess produce as possible in a crockpot stew, along with some stew beef.  The fridge, she still overfloweth with bounty that has not yet gone past prime.  

Pet news:  Junior cat love love loves this box with tablecloths in it so much that I have not seen fit to wash the fur off and put everything away.  Senior cat keeps looking out the glass door for that giant cat who came to visit her the other day.  As usual, very exciting pet news.

Impending Empty Nest news:  Daughter has been bookmarking apartment possibilities for our hunt in July.  She claims she is starting to sort the mountain of stuff in her room.

My guess is that there is more exciting news at your house.  Tell us!

Justifiable Whining about the State of the World

This is one of those days when too many horrible things are happening, too many to list, too many to absorb, too many.

Not to mention that Mini has been up since 4:15 a.m. and found it quite unreasonable that I wouldn't let her have screen time then.

Soooooooo Tired Edition

The last of the wedding festivities was an open house yesterday, at the in-laws.  Apparently the happy couple kept partying until an unspeakable hour, so they arrived late, but it was casual and nice, people drifting in and out, someone tossing more food on the buffet every so often.  We contributed a bunch of leftovers, since I definitely over-bought for the picnic.  The rest of the GS cookies turned up at the in-laws' house, too.

After, I took a nap, ate a snack, and went to bed for close to 10 hours. 

Anybody want some pineapple?  Watermelon?

What's going on with you?

ETA:   Cat in a box with tablecloths.  I'm pretty sure more of this kind of stuff would make the entire world better.

First time hosting in a while.

Thanks QWP for refreshing my hosting info! Whine away, everyone!

Windy Whining

We've been in the midst of wind storms for the past several days, and even though we live on the prairies (where strong winds and extreme temperatures are kind of our thing), we're all sick of it now. Yesterday wasn't even our worst day, but we came home from church to find that a large section of our fence had blown down. And then I had to secure patio furniture, because it was blowing around! I'm sick of it. I want to be outside in my garden. I want to stand outdoors without bracing myself against the blast.

But, the forecast says it's supposed to die down over the next day, and warm weather is in the forecast. And so, even though today I will spend one more day making soup and wrapping myself in a cozy blanket, and staying indoors, I'm filling my calendar with plans for sunshine and barbecuing.

(I just realised that I'll probably be holding down the fort by myself today, as it's Memorial Day for the American pixies. I'll see the rest of you tomorrow.)

Things will be more normal in a few weeks, but meanwhile....

Help!  I've got wedding brain!   The bride's not even wearing white, and this is what I did to a gift!

The cats are helping me keep it real.  Senior cat contributed early morning barks in several locations, for example.  Junior cat continues to remind me several times daily that she could potentially starve if I fail to replace the missing kibble immediately.

We went to a nearby little nature-oriented fair yesterday, and got to meet this great therapy dog.  I mean, he was huge, and the sweetest boy, yes he was.  Then we witnessed some heated words between the people staffing 2 adjoining environmentally-friendly booths, with the native plant lady telling a clean energy guy that she'd been listening to what he was telling people, and he was full of something something.  There was a live geologist on site with several dozen kinds of rocks, but he was really involved explaining something to a park service person, so my beloved didn't get a chance to ask questions.  Also, I found out that a family down the street is having a baby in October!!  Yay!

What's the haps at your place?

Week of Ups and Downs

Hello, Pixies. I hope that everyone had a peaceful weekend. We successfully simplified our Mother's Day this year, by opting out of everything all weekend (except church). Mr. Q tilled our vegetable garden patch, and I got about 1/3 of it planted. Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Q and E played video games, so that I could soak in the tub for a little while without a small creature banging on the door. I watched a British mystery show. We had takeout for lunch, after church. (It turns out that fast food places are really quiet, on the day when everyone is trying to go for brunch.) After a weekend without any obligations to anyone else, I feel relaxed like I just came back from a spa weekend.

And it's a good thing I feel this relaxed, because this afternoon, I have another internal ultrasound appointment. (Whiiiiiiine.) Cross all appendages that the result of this appointment is "everything's getting better on its own!" and not "We need to book you for surgery, because it's worse."

So: ups and downs today. I'm drinking my tea and staring out the window, trying to hold on to that last bit of peace from the weekend, and am trying not to fret about the afternoon.