Sunday afternoon

DH and I  rolled out of bed about 9 PM today and hit the grocery store before the after-church crowd got there.  It was wonderful!  You could actually push your cart down the aisle without having to ask people to move, or being run down by the over-stressed and easily distracted among us.

As you can see from the weekly photo of the tree, it is still grey and mild here.  That's our house in the background this time.

I got Cupcake out, and am making a try at cinnamon rolls.  I have never made a cinnamon roll from scratch.  I spoke kindly to the yeast, sang to it, and exhorted it to help me make wonderful rolls.  I did not put any yeast dough in my warm dark belly.  Yet.  Oh, my I was tempted.  That sweet and yeasty smell is SOO appealing!    But I did find a splendid place to proof the dough - the top of the gas fireplace, over the pilot light.  Wish me luck.

.So I continue working at cleaning out that metaphorical room.  Lisa, I think you're right aout the dolls being me, and it is comforting to know that even though I wasn't the doll she dreamed of, at least she still kept me.  And Tim, the drop chute is getting a lot of use already.  Thanks!!

The big pile right in front of the door is a dining-room table, just like the one I grew up with.  You say dining room table, and I think of this mahagony behemoth with multiple leaves,curly legs, and the scars of cigarette burns all over it. (Mom would light a cigarette, put it in an ashtray, then forget it.  It's a wonder she never burned the place down.)  There were chairs on top of it with boxes of china and table linens piled between the legs.  Mice had gotten into some of the boxes and built nests amongst the linen.  Ewwww !  Gorgeous Irish damask clothes, never used, and ruined past repair.  Straight down the chute, and it feels good to pitch them.  Other boxes of linen still mostly mouse free, needing washing and ironing.  Hooboy, I'm going to be working a lot at this! But it makes clear to me that one thing I have gotten from my mom is my love of entertaining and all the accessories that go along with it.  I am already squinting at the ceilong, trying to estimate the size of the room, wondering if I can get all the knitter in here for tea?

I haven't gotten to the boxes under the table yet, but ever since I found those virtual mouse nests, Candy cat has insisted on a place on my lap.  I'm going to invite all the kitties in to help me clean the room.  Kitties are good helpers!!

How did our cats get theri names?  Well, Candy was a rescue cat and came with her name already.  Fly showed up as a youngster on our front porch and crawled over the screens over the front windows like a fly would.  Ben and Pepper were kittens at the local pet store.  When I saw her bright eyes and her lack of tail, I had to  share house-space with her.  Then she rubed her ears against my hand and went into a paroxysm of purring, and I was done for.  We got her home and got her settled, and DH said, "Did you notice that little red male kitten there?"  yes.  "I have a feeling that if we don't get him, he won't have a happy life."  What are we waiting for?  Let's go get him! 

So we rescued these two kittens, the male barely 6 weeks old, the female from another litter and at least a month older.  We played with them, fed and petted them, tucked them up together for the night, and in the morning I knew what their names were.  The fearless dark female was Pepper.  The timid red baby was Ben.  We've been happy roommates ever since.

And Squirrel, thanks to Lisa's matchmaking skills, has a new home and an owner who is just nutty about her.  Kitties are our friends.

How did your pets get their names?