So Much going on!  Almost Memorial Day!  MUSICA!

What makes you happy?  This makes me happy.  To see these little ears making themselves comfy in the laundry on the kitchen table.

. . . And dishes, glorious dishes. Sheets on the table waiting to be folded, and this is my third filling of the dishwasher . . 

I’m doing one shelf at a time, putting dishes in the dishwasher, washing each shelf with soap and hot water and then rinsing them . . . getting off all those winter cooking juices.

Almost everything goes into the dishwasher ~ except for the really big bowls on the top shelf which don’t fit so I do them by hand . . . and also, anything suspicious, like plates with a gold rim, or the red stripes on these old glasses. I don’t know if the dishwasher would take them off, but that would be very sad, I take no chances and wash them by hand.

Enameled glasses too . . . with hand-painted flowers too cute to lose . . .

I can’t fold sheets until Prince Jack wakes up . . .

So I dry dishes.

And go for a little walk around the house. Look at that fat bee!

That yellow on the back of his legs is pollen.  That’s where they keep it.  It’s like their purse.

And then these little darlings . . . we love to see goldfinches at the feeders.  They look good with the cardinals  ~ all that bright exotic color.

Isn’t he perfect?  Joe took this picture right through our kitchen windows using his telephoto lens.

Jack has moved. I wash the sheets, Jack gets into them, I wash the bowls, Jack gets into them. I get out of my chair, Jack gets into it.

Who me?  What?

Don’t bother me.  I’m almost napping again. You can rewash it, what’s one bowl? (He is so right!  One bowl, and isn’t he the picture of perfection!)

So I continue cleaning cupboards.  One of the fun things about this job, I get to pet and admire my favorite dishes . . . this is one of them, this old Christmas platter I designed back in 2003.  I’m not sure how many of you even saw this one . . .

. . . here’s the back of it.  Michel and Company, the company that manufactured this, was sold before most them even came on the market, but they are so perfect for Christmas cookies, I thought maybe you hunters might enjoy looking for it on ebay or Etsy. Yes, I see it, Made in China.  Oh well.

More glasses, more sheets . . .

. . . long shadows and another day, more spring cleaning . . . getting guest rooms ready for the Girlfriends.

Girl Kitty keeping busy in the pantry . . .

And Lowely’s mother sent us a gift . . . a cat cottage her own kitty had finished with.  Now it’s Jack’s turn.

Of course, he’s interested. What self-respecting cat wouldn’t be ~ and Jack is nothing if not self-respecting.

 

It’s three stories, there are little circle cut-outs between floors so kitties can go exploring . . . Here’s Jack heading for the second floor.

And here’s me, on the floor with the camera, peeking through that front door, looking up to see Jack on the second floor.  Look at that face.  How can a person even think about leaving home when she would have to say good bye to this face!

Yet, we must go to New York at the end of next week and kiss this little face goodbye.  Only for three days and the person staying here with Jack and Girl may actually love them as much as me. They will get such good loving I have no fear, they won’t even have time to miss me.

Just because I follow the kitties around doesn’t mean I’m not working ~ oh no, here’s Joe and I reading the new book to each other, making notes, cutting things, adding things ~ then I go back to the computer and retype.  I think we might be doing this for a while!

These lovelies are delicious anytime of year, but right now I’m thinking of our girlfriends in the Southern Hemisphere who are just about to go into winter!  Hard to imagine from our viewpoint through the bees and the wisteria and the lilac, but I know it’s true.   So we want to help our Girlfriends way down under celebrate their cozy season . . .

I thought I’d remind them of the most delicious Chili  recipe from my Autumn Book!  You will love it!  Try it with Corn Pudding !  Stay  warm down there.  Write in and tell us how the weather is, what your trees look like, what holidays you’ll be celebrating! It’s hard to imagine our Autumn without Halloween and pumpkins ~ do you do something like that in the fall?  

But around here it’s almost Memorial Day Weekend! On Martha’s Vineyard it’s the true start of the Summer season when all the restaurants are open again and the nurseries are filled with every kind of blooming plant, and the boats begin to arrive loaded to the gills with summer visitors . . . you can read all about the island festivities right HERE and remind yourself of my delicious Bean Salad and lots of other perfectly picniky holiday recipes you can make to celebrate.  And, best of all for us, the island tradition that takes place right outside our front door.

Today we’ll hang our flag on the front of the house!  We have to do our part!

Joe reaches out through one upstairs window, I’m in the other, he throws a corner of the flag to me, I catch it and hook my side, he hooks his, and up goes the flag. Since 1989. Been doing it so long, now we are our own tradition.

Don’t forget, we’ll be having a big drawing to celebrate our third anniversary for the Blog and our fifth year on Facebook.  A little hint: There will be something in the drawing that will be of particular interest our quilting Girlfriends, be sure to tell your friends to look for it.  Something for quilters and sewers, and something for everyone else.♥  

Have a wonderful weekend Everyone!  I’ll check back in if something fun happens (extra fun). xoxo