Dearest Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, Mom...I love you dearly and miss you greatly. I'll be thinking of you this weekend as we celebrate the love and wisdom of mothers. So many lessons, laughs, experiences...all of the things that make us the people we are today.

♥,

Robin

Whisker Wednesday

I was sitting in a chair in the living room editing a document the other day and caught a glimpse of the sun shining off Kate's whiskers. The camera is always nearby it seems.














And then, this.  She's saying "Oh, that's funny!"

My New Best Friend

 












After many weeks, if not months, of talking about getting a juicer, I finally got one: the Breville Compact. We happened to be walking through Bloomingdale's of all places, and saw it on sale. So, home it came. I wondered if it was going to be hard to clean, which would mean our friendship would be short lived. It isn't; it's super easy to clean. Even comes with the perfect brush to clean the screeny, chopper part. My other "juicer fear" was: would it be powerful enough? It is! It juices whole apples, carrots, cucumbers, even oranges and you don't have to peel them. The best part is the amazing juice - it's like drinking pure energy. This concoction was made with 1 cucumber, 1 apple, 1 orange, an inch of ginger, and 1 carrot. I drank half of this, then thought I'd snap a pic. The key is to drink it within about 5 minutes of juicing so you get all the enzymes. So delicious and highly recommended.

Today's Music ♥

Pt. Reyes Memories & Relaxing, At Last

One of the absolute most wonderful trips of my life did not involve traveling many miles at all. Just a quick flight to San Francisco, and then a rental car's drive to Pt. Reyes and Manka's. Manka's is pure heaven, as I have said so many times you must be saying, she's NOT talking about that place again!?

Tonight James brought home some Pt. Reyes blue cheese. And after the week and weekend I've had of pretty much non-stop work, what a wonderful break this delectable cheese provides. Granted, it must be 400 calories a bite, but I'm not thinking about that tonight. I'm just being happy that work is at bay for a bit, and I'm chillin' with some tasty treats and a room temperature glass of Francis Coppola Diamond Malbec. Big, relaxed sigh. And, yum.

Lisa Mitchell sings Oh Hark!

Once again, I leave my grave!

Duffy Rocks

Pardon the intro commercial if it pops up!

Red and Yellow

I love red and yellow together - they are such a cheery pair of hues. The yellow chicken planter was procured from a fun estate sale in La Jolla one day - a big, sprawling house with an amazing view. There's a red, large chicken counterpart that goes with it roosting in my backyard. The red, chipped iron basin came from a woman's estate sale who was offloading her antique shop wares. I paid $5 for it! Gotta love that. Have a beautiful Saturday, everyone.

Easter Greeting to All!

From our hutch to yours, hope everyone had the happiest bunny day!

I'll have Easter-recap pics from the day at my belle mere's. It was such fun, as always.

♥,
Robin

p.s. I had set this to post at 6 a.m. Sunday morning, but alas it did not happen. Better late than never! The thought was there! :o)

Katie Kat Ventures Out

Alert: Cat on a harness!

So, we have/had this dilemma: Miss Kate longs to go outside. When we go out on the back deck with Saylor, she meows mournfully through the screen at us. So we started carrying her outside to sit on our laps. Then, we started walking around the yard with her in our arms. Now, this: the red rhinestone harness from IKEA! She loves it! But it's not so fun for us because she just honkers down and sniffs the dirt and just soaks in the outdoors in a very small area. She's taking it all in! It's so cute, but there's a backlash. Once we get back inside, she meows at the door for about an hour wanting to go right back out! Fortunately she only has 8 lbs. worth of kitty frame to make noise with, so it's not so overwhelming. But, we've created a little leashed monster! James is so protective of her. He says, "Maybe when she's like 6 or 8 we could try to let her off the leash." I'm not so sure I can wait that long, and though I would never leave her unattended outside ever, I'm dying to give her a little freedom. Thing is, her little feral beginnings make her a little on the flighty side. She's no calm pound kitty or specialty breed, just a little rescue from a storm drain. You can see her humble beginnings here.

Latest Music Love

Sorry for the goofy ads at bottom of videos...

Chip In, No?

So, apparently back in the old days, when the Italian fishermen would come in from their day of work on the water, they'd all sit around by the docks, hungry, and decide to put together a little of this and a little of that from their nets to make a big pot of Cioppino! Only my belle mere would know this story, and she told us a few weeks ago when we made this very dish in honor of her birthday. I had 11 around the long table - no easy task in our small dining room. We were stretched almost to the kitchen!

And even Wikipedia corroborates the story: the name derived from the heavily Italian-accented cry of the wharf cooks for the fishermen to "chip in" some of their catch to the collective soup pot.

Below, our nephew Casey, stirs our day's catch. The green sprig in the background is from fennel bulbs which were diced and sauteed with shallots and onions to make the base. It turned out great...recipe here.

It's A Parade, and It's For Sherri's Birthday!!!

Is that special day here? Why, yes, I think it is! That is, if you're reading this on March 4th! It's Sherri's birthday!!

Who's that I see coming down the lane? Who could it be? Mrs. Felinski? Is that you? Well, yes, it is, and you have the whole fam damily with you today, don't you?! You must be headed over to Sherri's to say Happy Birthday!

Mrs. Felinski meowed, "Why, yes I am! I'm headed there now! And I hope she has some milk for these hungry kitties!"












Oh, and good morning to you, Mr. Pondswim! Nice tune you're playing there on your banjo. It's just the day to play Happy Birthday, because it's Sherri's birthday, donchya'know! Oh, but you knew, didn't you! I wonder what she's doing today? Seems there's quite a commotion building in honor of her day.

Answering slipperingly, he chortled, "Headed there now! Hope she has a spare fly for me to chomp!"









This is so great! All of these folks have lined up to wish Sherri a happy birthday! Even Mrs. Barksdale! My, that's some bonnet you're wearing there, Mrs. B. You're obviously in full birthday regalia!

Barking back with a snort and a growl, Mrs. Barksdale said, "Oh, I wouldn't miss Sherri's birthday for anything! I think she's the greatest!"


And, Bunny Figurine, you're here, too!?? Did you just run away from some estate sale table just to wish Sherri a Happy Birthday? Gee, your skin is radiant today, in celebration of Sherri's birthday. It's positively glass-like! Better watch out, or Sherri'll have you on her Etsy shoppe, sold, and boxed up before you can say Jack Robinson! Hee hee!














Miss Figurine glowed back, "Why thank you for that compliment on my glowing skin! I've been using that Prosacea that you lent me, and it's got my skin all squared away! Thanks for noticing! Have to hop now...headed to Sherri's so she can put me in a box and ship me off!!! I'm going to Paris!"

But, wait! Who is that coming in last! Marilyn!?? Too much! Get in here girl! Let's go get Sherri and have lunch! To be continued...at a later date!