Monday, February 16, 2009

Bees & Bumps in Beds

So...on Valentine's Day, on the way to lunch, this darling bee decided to land on the windshield. It looks like he's just in the air, but no. We were at a light and I started kvetching that once we started going he might be hurt. We weighed the alternatives, as I snapped pictures of his little gold and black striped self. Since we were headed to the 163, he might get blown off into traffic. Not good. Or should we turn on the wipers to get him off in the neighborhood area? I didn't like that one either, at all. Then, as if he had heard us, *poof* he was gone! Yay! Bee crisis averted. I really have to work at not getting all nutty over the tiniest thing being hurt. It taxes one's energy. And it's totally out of my control, ya know? I don't speak Bee, and as a friend of mine's Dad says, "you can't suckle the whole world." Ah, but I think I try sometimes, at least through the investment of mental anguish.

Next, you will see a bed bump - an almost daily occurrence here at the homestead. It's Katie under the covers. Such a sweet little lumpling. She crawls up from the side, under both the sheet and comforter cover. I think she gets under for the warmth, but also the dark. The shades in the bedroom don't really keep light out, so it's bright enough to send your circadian rhythms diving under the nearest blankie.

Valentine's Day Goodies

A few pictures from Valentine's Day starting with red, fragrant roses from hubby.

After we exchanged cards at home, we dashed to Neiman Marcus for lunch. I have a crazy love for department store cafes, so this was my heart's desire versus dinner out among the maddening crowds.

I had the Mandarin Orange Souffle. And of course, they bring a popover fresh from the oven a millisecond after you sit down - with strawberry butter of course. I decided not to drive James batty with copious pictures of my food, so there is no strawberry butter shot. I meticulously detailed the popovers here at a former lunch at NM with my friend Michele.















James had a grilled scallop salad.










We opted for a 'sweet trio' for dessert, which happened to contain more than a trio, I dare say. Behind the heart cookie were two chocolate dipped strawberries. There was a famous NM choco-chip cookie, a sugar cookie, the two cupcakes, and a center dollop of whipped cream with blackberries. Yum! We were carried out in two red wheelbarrows.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Beds and Breakfast

Sunday was filled with yard work. James cleared out the beds in the front of the house - removed the weed liner, which I hated - and now it's just nice black dirt and plants and a few large rocks and that's it! The weed liner was slowly inching its way up above the soil in places and just looked ugly. No more! It's all gone. While J. cleared beds, I made some breakfast: toasts with cream cheese, smoked salmon, red onion, and capers. And an omelet with tomatoes, mozzarella, and red onion. And a big honkin' hash brown in the center, in case the plate wasn't full enough!? For dessert we had breath mints! Ha! It was all very onion-y.

Katie cat actually joined in to sample a little bit of salmon. She loved it! Such a gourmand, this little kitty. Have I mentioned she eats raw spinach leaves? It's very cute.