The Cat and The Keyboard

Today I stayed home from work - yesterday night I started feeling crummy and woke this morning to the same sick-to-my-stomach feeling and (my personal favorite) the 'good morning' headache. Way to greet the day, huh?

I slept in a tiny bit (7:50am!) and got up to make some oatmeal - something plain but also nourishing - which I thought would feel OK in my tummy. It worked out fine thankfully. I pulled on some 'real' pants (apparently my long bermuda sleeping shorts don't really exist?) to keep from having that sleep-all-day feeling which sometimes makes you feel even worse when you are already not feeling your best.

Checked work e-mails and personal e-mails and facebook (ugh the addiction; knowing how completely unimportant and fleeting it is makes the guilt that much worse and yet I still am a facebooker) ... apparently my cat Smiley - confused by the fact that I was at home on a Monday mid-morning (yes, he is aware of all those details) kept coming into my room (a guest room/office) and swirling around my left ankle, looking up at me longingly then flopping emphatically on the floor in front of the closet, glancing at me and then blinking at the windows over the bed. Then getting up, going to the living room, and coming back just to repeat the entire cycle another time. I realize he is 'telling me' that he is out of food and I get up to refill their two bowls (one for each of them is the idea, but Carmen thinks 'her' bowl is whichever one Smiley is eating out of at that very moment and likes to push his face out of the bowl with her puffy cheeks). They both take a few bites and, content simply knowing there is still food there if and when they are hungry again, sit down and lick their paws.

Back in the office Smiley, still baffled and a little star struck having me at home with him (he is a mama's boy through and through) decides that nothing I have open on my computer is even close to important compared to him. The only way he knows to distract me - his previous efforts (swirling around my ankles, meowing, and leaping in quick succession on and then off my lap) had not been entirely successful - is to step from lap to desktop and then flop himself partially onto my laptop keyboard (after having successfully opened a new browser tab for me with his left elbow).

Here, he is being playful to try and disarm me ... the computer is chirping at us; he keeps holding down the space key, I think.

He keeps a watch out for Carmen - shared attention is simply not an option.

He's caught a sniff of something ... maybe a touch of perfume that's worn off over time; or maybe that shiny Windows XP sticker.

Those big, serene eyes ... I can't argue with them. ;) Look how nonchalant with his little arm draping over the desk.

Yep, he's definitely more important than facebook.

My Morning Glories bloomed!!

This morning I wasn't feeling so well. That I-think-I'm-coming-down-with-something feeling that makes me want to stay in bed all morning. But staying in bed has a way of making me feel even worse really, so I got up and made a pot of coffee instead.

Preface: yesterday evening, we flung all our windows open to the glorious cool air and Kevin proclaimed it would be the perfect night to sleep with them open. I completely agreed and drank in the crispness as I snuggled deeper under my sheets and felt the occasional gust of Fall air against my nose.

So this morning as I scuffed around my kitchen, the air was still cool through the kitchen windows (have I mentioned how I love my kitchen windows?) and the sun beat in and my coffee brewed. I looked out into my bright yard and at my tiny little garden on the patio and realized with glee that my shy Morning Glories had finally bloomed! Yay! At last! I had to grab my camera and snap a shot of them before they clammed up again.

And with that I decided to photograph my other plants, too.

I haven't done a garden update in quite some time. When we were out of town this summer, some of my herbs died; when we got back I replanted them but then the Blue Jays ate the seeds so I gave up on any other herb but my Basil which apparently is immortal ... until about a week ago when I planted a few new herbs which are to remain at my kitchen window until they are a little bigger and perhaps not quite so attractive to hungry birds.

Here are my 3 kitchen herbs: Thyme, Rosemary and Dill. I think the Dill is the one that's growing tall already, the middle of the three pots pictured. (In a moment entirely lacking in organization, I somehow got the three little pots mixed up so I'll just have to wait and see what they turn into!) The other two are a little slower, though I can see now the tiniest green shoots just peeking out from the soil. 

It is so fascinating to me, watching plants grow. It's so fulfilling seeing little seeds dropped in soil with some water and sun turn into full grown plants that I can use in my kitchen or appreciate for their beauty. I think I have a little hint of understanding now why people love gardening so much. What a beautiful pastime.

I'm hoping the Rosemary proves as hearty as I believe it to be so I can have a big shrub of it eventually. Kevin and I were biking around the neighborhood yesterday afternoon and before I even saw it, I smelled Rosemary and Lavender; sure enough, someone had a huge, beautiful bed of both growing in their yard. If for no other reason, I would love a Rosemary bush just to smell the heady aroma wafting through my yard.

Here are the last remaining Basil plants (above). There are about six now (including a couple I moved to my windowsill) and in the foreground, one lonely -- but fastidious -- Parsley left over from the summer. I realized I had so much Basil there was no way I could use it all. I planted a lot to start with, then thinned and thinned over the months as they grew larger and needed more sun and space. I admitted to myself at last that I wasn't actually a grocer and it was best to just give away some so it wouldn't go to waste. Three neighbors, one co-worker, one cousin and ten (!) Basil plants later, I am happy with the amount of Basil left in my yard. I have read you can dry Basil very easily which I plan on doing as we head into the cold months. You can also freeze pesto, so I really ought to make a couple batches; some of the leaves are just begging to be picked.

One of the seeds that miraculously survived the Blue Jays are my Forget-Me-Nots (above). As I replanted my herbs, I decided some flowers wouldn't hurt, which is when I planted the Forget-Me-Nots and the Morning Glories. The Forget-Me-Nots haven't bloomed yet, but the leaves are pretty and soft.

And here are two new endeavors (above). Whenever I use something in the kitchen, I must use the seeds and try to grow it in my yard! It's likely too late for either of these to get very far, but I have planted Jalapeno (top) and Avocado (bottom) seeds.

What I'd really love is a lemon tree, but that's for next Spring.