How Does Your Garden Grow?

Brilliant sunset

A young cardinal on the lawn

Pl@ntNet identifies this plant as either Bitter Lettuce or Common Evening Primrose. Many years ago, I had planted primroses along the edges of the front walk so I could lead people down the primrose path. This plant doesn't look like those primroses.

Hello, Mr. Slug

Himself's starter garden in the basement

Moving the potato plants to the greenhouse.

Hello, Handsome.

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little Time Wasters

 

Visit A Cat's Eye View of Japan. To see videos of cats hanging out in various Japanese towns.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Restaurant leftovers for supper. No cooking for me. No leftover Prosecco, though.

2. Last teaching assistants lunch for the year

3. I made a fast supper of precooked  shrimp, mushroom and wine spaghetti sauce (jar), and linguini

4. The Young One did some troubleshooting and discovered why the laptop camera wouldn't engage in Zoom. Seems there's a function key that can turn the camera on or off. Even though in settings it shows the camera is enabled. 

5. Himself found all the things he was looking for on his shopping expedition.

How was your week?

Accordion Fold Book with Pockets, "Moi" - Days 28 - 31

Days 28 and 29

What household job do you hate the most?

I hate cleaning the toilet.

What is your profession?

I wear many hats

On any given day I am, the Artist in Residence, Wife, Social Secretary, Chargé D'Affair (the person in charge of an embassy), Doctor, She Who Must Be Obeyed, Mama, The IT Department, Cat Whisperer, a Cheerleader, the CFO, and the Chief Cook, Cleaner, and Bottle Washer.

Days 30 and 31

What is your favorite month?

My favorite month of the year is July. Besides being a Summer month, the girlies and I celebrate our birthdays during the month of July.

What state do you live in?

I live in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Finis

Whatcha Doin?

 

Mr. Spock is helping me brainstorm ideas for blog posts for the days I'll be away at Camp Ogunquit. 🤞🏼

Whatcha doin?

T Stands For A Well-Deserved Prosecco

Thursday last, I taught two classes at WAM to 5 to 7 year olds, a group of 16 children. In the morning, we made A Book of Beasts with a variation of Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord's Stick and Elastic Book. 

Before going into the studio to work, we went to the gallery to see the painting, The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks (ca. 1838)

I took pictures of a sampling of the books the children made. The children were loud and spirited, but were engaged in making their books. Below some of the books the children made.

I don't know what the children were fed a lunch time, but when they came back to the studio for the second class Crowns, Scepters, and Capes, they were hopping off the walls. They were so loud, my ears were bleeding from the cacophony. They did seem to enjoy making and decorating paper crowns. We were so busy measuring and fitting crowns, there wasn't any time to take photos of the children's creations.

After Himself was finished teaching his class at WPI, he picked me up at the museum and we went out to dinner at Mare E Monti

After dealing with the children all day, I started with a well-deserved glass of Prosecco.

We ordered antipasto as our appetizer

I had my favorite linguini alle vongola (whole clams in a white wine sauce.) Beautifully plated.

Himself had Veal Marsala. I had a taste, too.

For dessert, I had an Almond Torte with a cup of tea. Himself had a brownie with ice cream. We also brought home leftovers so no cooking the following day!

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Accordion Fold Book with Pockets, "Moi" - Days 22 - 27

Days 22 - 25

Beach or Mountain?

The beach photo is from Ogunquit Beach, Maine. The mountain photo is from the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

I think if you've come this far with me, you know...

What's Your Astrological Sign?

I'm a Leo

July 23 to August 22.

What was your favorite age?

There are several favorite ages so I chose three. 

When I was 7 years old, I won (my Dad actually won) an Honorable Mention in the Science Fair. Our experiment was materials that would conduct electricity and would light a light bulb. 

When I turned 17, several friends gave me birthday parties. Lots of cake was involved. We drove through the center of town with me in the back seat sticking my head out the open window and yelling to all the passersby, "Anybody want a piece of cake?" Yup, I thought I was hot stuff. 

At the age of 29, I finally got a really good job. I was a computer consultant to banks. The company I worked for sold back office accounting programs. My job was to customize the programs for the customers.  This was in the early days of business having mini-computer systems. My favorite road warrior outfit was a navy blue, pinstripe skirt and blazer with a red and blue "power tie". When I visited my banks, people would stick their head out of their offices and whisper, the programmer is here. the programmer is here. I always thought I should have had my own theme song to announce my arrival or presence. Something like Darth Vader's theme. I would be shown to a terminal where I could work. The rule was I was there to fix a specific problem. So no one could sneak in a while you are here could you fix this? There would be hisses, Don't bother the programmer. The boss's secretary would timidly approach and ask, Can I get you a coffee, tea, anything? Those were the days when programmers were gods and not just code monkeys.

Himself and I were dating at this time, too.

Are you a day or a night person?

I'm a day person. My day begins at 5 am when I have to get up to feed the kitties. Sometimes, I go back to bed until 7 am. Then it's go, go, go, with an occasional nap, and going again. I go to bed between 9:30 or 10 pm unless I'm at Camp Ogunquit.

Days 26 and 27

Are you a cat or dog person? 

I have been owned by 5 cats.

Ginette, a male tuxedo cat with an unfortunate name. The Brother was dating a girl whose cat had kittens. She asked my brother to watch the kitten for a week. They broke up and she never came back to get the kitten. I was 12 years old. I called him Kitty. He would wait on the front steps for me every afternoon as I came home from school. When he saw me walking up the street, he would run to meet me and walk me home.

Mitty was the cat we had before Ink. Mitty was a diluted tuxedo. He was grey and not black. We adopted him from a shelter. He was a very loving cat. I think he was so happy to be out of the shelter. Every morning at 4:30 am, he would let me know he wanted to go outside. At 6:30 am, he would bring me a decapitated mole. Every. single, morning. Sometimes, he would jump up on the kitchen table while the Young One was dawdling over her breakfast. He would finish it for her.

Ink was my beloved, black cat familiar. He was all black except for 6 white hairs on his chest.He owned me for 19 years, and has now been beatified as a saint.

My two, new furry overlords, are Calli. She stretches her back legs like she's a ballerina. She does not stretch the way normal cats do. Quill is a chill, big boy. He does not like to be held, but likes to be where the people are. He is dog software running on cat hardware.

Coffee or Tea?

A cup (of tea) a day keeps the bear at bay.