Round Up the Usual Suspect

A few days ago, John brought home Publix Cuban sandwiches for our lunch. What a treat!  I cranked up the oven to 4oo and laid the sandwiches open on a pizza pan so the bread would toast and the Swiss cheese melt.  Knowing it would take five or so minutes to get the oven up to speed, I left the pan and open sandwiches on the countertop and went into the dining room to continue futzing with the watercolor I was working on.

When I returned to the kitchen, I was puzzled to see a knife on the floor. I'd left it on the counter, ready to spread the mustard on the toasted sandwiches. 

But where were the sandwiches? Had I absent mindedly put them in already? Without the pan? I checked the oven. Nope.

They were flat gone.  G.O.N.E.  No crumbs, nothing out of order but the knife on the floor.

JENNY! I shrieked, and a slightly (but only slightly) abashed little hound tiptoed in from the living room.

My fault. She has the reach of a young giraffe, and she has taken stuff from the counter or table before. Generally, I shove things way back out of her reach. 

Disappointed doesn't cover the gloom of having a pimento cheese sandwich when your mouth is all watered up for a Cuban. 

I remain in awe of her ability to consume so much, so quickly and quietly. The Cuban is a big sandwich. And she ate two. 

She spent the afternoon outside but as far as I could tell, suffered no ill effects from her hurried meal. 

In an unrelated incident, on Thursday night the usual suspect went out after supper and didn't return. We got a call around nine from Justin, looking for Otter. Aha! the girls are off on a toot! we said to ourselves.

Justin came up the road, calling for Otter--who returned soon after. But no Jenny. 

That bad girl stayed gone till five in the morning when John heard her at the door and let her in. She hopped up on the bed and, after a brief hello as I made sure she wasn't bringing ticks with her, she curled up and went to sleep. 

I'd love to know what she was doing all that time. We didn't hear her howling as she often does; she wasn't dirty or briar covered as she sometimes is.

It's a mystery and she's not talking.

 

A Closer Look

 

Relationship Lit

My friendly local book pusher left me a bulging bag o' books and these are the first three I read. 

 

Josie Recycles and Other Stuff

Meema and I did pages in a number workbook. I can write some numbers like 1 and 0 and I am getting better at the others. Practice makes perfect, I told Meema. Then Jenny and I had a little rest.

Later we went down to the basement to put clothes in the dryer. I am a big help.

Then we read books and magazines in The Room. It was raining outside so I got my exercise by bouncing.

I asked Meema to lie down and read to me while I bounced but she got a little cranky and said STOP THAT BEFORE YOU BOUNCE ON ME.  So then we both lay down and read my magazines.

I also had to see about my friends in the toy chest. 

I love Octalia. 

While Meema was fixing lunch, I found a lot of things in the recycling bin that I could use to organize my crayons and pens and markers. Grumpy said I was recycling the recycling. 

I made a song and sang it for Meema while I stood on a chair in the kitchen.

"Recycle this, recycle that.

You can recycle everything.

Recycle this, recycle that.

That is what I sing!"

 

And in the News

It doesn't take a lot to make me happy at this time of year--azaleas and wisteria blooming, Josie taking a plunge and getting her ice cream in a delicious waffle cone instead of a paper cup, putting away most of my winter clothes . . .

 Sure, there's plenty to worry about in the news--

But amidst all the bad news, I was so happy that the French re-elected centrist Macron rather than giving the nod to far-right LePen. If only our country will have the wisdom and the heart to turn its back on hate.

And here in NC, a litter of red wolf pups was born in the wild! (Story HERE.)

 

Bisy, Bisy

Just don't know if I can stand the pace! After several years when my calendar showed nothing, not even a doctor's appointment for months on end, things have picked up considerable.

We had friends here for lunch on Friday and on Saturday. Catching up after such a long hiatus is wonderful. I recognize that it would be all too easy to slip into total recluse mode--I've already got the look and I've never been especially social anyway. But when I know more about my FB friends than my local friends, well, probably time to get out of my safe zone.

Josie was with me Friday and Saturday afternoons as well as a sleep over Saturday. I had some recent reading to write about, but sleepovers don't leave time for that--there's dinner, bath, and bed. Thus the BISY. BACKSON notice yesterday ( a quote from The House at Pooh Corner--more of my recent reading.)

Amidst all these distractions, I've been able to sit on the porch while Josie does play dough and marvel at the trees as they leaf out so rapidly you can see the change almost hourly. They are magical beings and as our pastures on the mountain continue to turn to forest, I console myself that we are re-wilding and helping the poor besieged planet. 

 

Cryptic Quote?

                          GON OUT.

                          BACKSON.

         BISY. BACKSON.

 

Silent Saturday

 

Bluebell Wood Starter Kit

I'll never forget the pure magic of standing in a bluebell wood in England. So, some years ago I planted a few in hopes that they would spread. 

They've not spread, as such, but they've multiplied into largish clumps.

Once the blooms fade, I tell myself, this year I'll divide them and spread them around a bit. They're on a steepish, shady bank behind the house, just above the rock wall.  Not a lot of bending and stooping, thank goodness.

This year, for sure.

 

Critters

Jenny and Otter

The always elusive Angeline

Corycat practicing her disdainful look on Otter

 

Gospel on a Plane

The ongoing negative reaction to Rep. Ilhan Omar's reaction to the viral video of a Christian ministry group singing "How great is our God," in the aisle of a plane is pretty predictable.  Why does she hate Christians? She should go back to where she came from. Et cetera, et cetera. (Article with video and full story HERE.)

The thing is, she only mused about how passengers would have reacted had, in a similar situation, her family begun an overt display of their religion--Islam.  Considering the suspicion and mistrust that have greeted many Muslims on airplanes, I think we can agree there's a double standard at work here. 

 I can imagine a musical duel between "All hail, King Jesus!" and "Allahu Akbar." It could be kinda fun, like a scene from West Side Story. Fun till someone went for a gun . . .

I don't know the origin of this quote, but it seems appropriate.

Religion is like a penis--it's fine to be proud of it but please don't wave it around. And for goodness sake don't shove it down others' throats.

 

Small Wonders