Day 396

I'm trying to train our cat again. This time it's not just a fun trick like the one from Day 353. This one has to do with my mornings.

The cat sleeps inside most of the night. In the early morning hours she bawls to be let out (and we certainly abide). Then around six in the morning hubby lets her back in. She eats, she bawls, then she jumps on the foot of the bed. She runs up the bed, up anyone on the bed (me), then uses that person's shoulder (mine) as a launching pad/springboard to jump up on top of the bookcase headboard. She daintily walks around the lamp, the tv controller, and the box of kleenex and parks herself on top of any piece of clothing I might have on my dresser.

And there is where she proceeds to clean herself and fall asleep.

I'm now keeping things off the dresser, hoping she'll get the message and stay off. But she doesn't. She still runs through the same routine, but seems to bawl even more now that there isn't a soft place for her. So now my plan is to get her to quietly sit on a blanket on the dresser and off my clothes.

I'm starting to wonder who is the trainer and who is the trainee, though. Looks like she has trained herself to act like an Easter egg hiding in the grass.

Day 395

It was the nicest day of the year so far with temps in the 70s and beautiful blue skies. A day like this meant it was time to work outside again, but it also meant it was time to put the clothesline back up. Finally.

I sure missed it. A year ago exactly (on Day 29), I made a clothespin bag. That bag made it through the entire summer and will be on my line again this year. Unfortunately, no clothes went up on the line today because the weather turned off bad in the afternoon.

Luckily I captured several pictures before the storm hit.

When we first moved into this house, we had bunches and bunches of Johnny Jump-Ups. But as we tilled soil in our various flower beds, we started getting fewer and fewer of the flowers returning each year. This year we have just one single plant.

While my tulips in the backyard aren't yet blooming, those in the front bed are. I also came across some other flowers in the front bed that are only a couple inches tall.

I checked to be sure the hummingbird nest is still there. Now we just need the mama to come back.

The clouds moved in and the gusty wind kicked up, ending my outside work (and picture-taking) time.

Day 394

I have to fess up. It's probably pretty obvious looking at the rate I'm turning out quilt tops.

I've been sewing more than I have been biking.

I have plenty of reasons excuses why the biking hasn't been taking center stage. The old one broke, the new one was delayed in getting here, we've been juicing, it's spring break, and so on and so on. I should have been at my next destination by now, but I'm not and there is no one to blame but me.

I changed that today. As of today I'm again spending more hours biking than sewing. Too bad the cars on my latest quilt top couldn't help me get down the road faster.

Day 393

My sugar cookie icing is quite simple. Powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. I stir the ingredients together until I get the right consistency. If the icing is too runny it falls off the edge of the cookie. If the icing is too thick it won't flow through the ziploc bag. But last night I learned even more about icing. Not the cookie kind, either. Being that I've never been to a hockey game before, I actually learned all kinds of new words.


I learned that if a hockey player shoots the puck across the red center line and the other team's red goal line without the other team touching it first, there's a word for that. Icing.

I also learned that icing results in a face-off. That's where the puck is dropped between two players, kind of like a jump ball in basketball.


 
A bodycheck is when a player uses their body to slow down (and in most cases, slam) the opponent against the wall. Sometimes those bodychecks turn into fights. And those fights appear to be encouraged.


When one of the team's players gets a penalty and has to go to the penalty box, the team can be outnumbered by one or two players during the game for a power play.

I learned the goalie gets beat up by the puck. Just check out all the black marks.

And I also learned that our daughter and her boyfriend are thoughtful cooks. Knowing we've been juicing, they made sure the dinner they made for us - shish kabobs - were mostly vegetables. Even dessert was on the healthier side - strawberries and angel food cake. Thanks you two, we had fun!

Day 392

Day in, day out, every day has been the same. Hubby home, juicing, biking, sewing. One day is rolling over into the other. Never leaving the house. Nowhere to go and nothing to do.

But we are breaking away from that today. Today is the day we are going to our daughter's for dinner and will have some real food. Then we're going on a double date with her and her boyfriend to an athletic event that none of us have ever attended.

So tomorrow's picture(s) should be from that athletic event. Any guesses as to what we're going to see?

No guesses on today's picture though. Another kids quilt top done for charity, this time made from crumbs (those things I wrote about on Day 104.)

Day 391

Juicing, biking, spring break. I'm tired of talking (and writing) about all of it right now.

I'd rather work on quilts. Remember all those quilt blocks I made on Day 329? The ones I turned into a quilt on Day 339? Well, I turned the extra blocks into yet another quilt top.

That makes three quilt tops completed in the last week. I'm aiming for at least three more in the coming week. We'll see if I get tired of doing that!

Day 390

The obsession with juicing is taking over, at least for now. While some folks do nothing but juice all day everyday for months, that's not our plan.

The plan isn't permanent for us. We wanted to reset our bodies, go cold turkey off the bad foods and hit the good foods hard. We were planning on nothing but juice through spring break, but already changed just a bit. We're doing juice for two meals, with the third meal being a salad (either fruit or veggie). The strong need to chew something is overwhelming. The need to continue to pursue the all plant diet is just as overwhelming so we had to make a concession.

We already see how the juice can be a part of our lives once this week is over. You wouldn't think a plate of fruits and veggies would turn out so tasty (and yet so ugly). This version tasted like apple juice.

 

 

 

And for those with no interest in juice here are some words from Ruth, who was lucky enough to captured these photos...

This owl has been in our area for nearly a month. Here he is sitting on a house roof next to the chimney. First time ever in our area.