#SoCS: The Company I Keep

“Time spent with a cat is never wasted.” ~Colette~ It’s been six weeks since I last blogged, and that last post wasn’t a very happy one. An update: Friend Margie went to heaven on my birthday, September 26, so I suppose I will never forget her on that day. I am missing both Margie and Paul, but the last month and a half has reminded me that I have a wonderful circle of family and friends that continually bring happiness,Read more

#SoCS: Loss in Seven Quotes

“How can we love the people in our lives so deeply and then one day simply never see them again? Perhaps these moments we share are anything but fleeting, but maybe they never really vanish. Maybe memory is real as the present and no one we have ever loved is truly gone.” ~Captain Christopher Pike, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds This past Thursday was not a good day. I lost one friend to ALS and learned another is entering hospiceRead more

My Hobbies – CFFC

Hobby #1: Gardening for butterflies and bees Hobby #1A: More gardening for butterflies and bees, and happy me. Hobby #2: Biking Hobby #2A: More biking…whew, I’m tired. Hobby #3: Painting with Wine – the ones I *hic* love the best. Hobby #4: Filling Bookshelves with the many things I read. Need another bookshelf. Create a CFFC PostRead more

It should have been an “X”

Linda G. Hill’s last Saturday Stream of Consciousness challenge was “think of a word that starts with the letter Q and write your post around it.“ I was in a quandry over this challenge because I would have preferred the letter X over Q. (Nevermind that I didn’t have time to write a post on Friday or commiserate with fellow bloggers on Saturday morning, but still…) So today, Monday, all the lucky bloggers out there get to read my storyRead more

#SoCS: Spittlebugs, Ants and Curls

Gardening/Biking/Traveling Buddy and I have been learning much about bugs in the garden. Frustrating much. The first and second year of the garden, we sought fencing as our answer to hungry bunnies, but second year, and this third year, also brought the onslaught of spittlebugs and our constant battle with the icky little things. Do you know what they are and what they do? If not: “Spittlebugs, in their nymph stage, harm plants by sucking their sap, which can causeRead more

God and Mother Nature in Maine

“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it.” ~Psalms 96:11~ When friends and acquaintances asked me my favorite place or moment during vacation, I always respond that it was on the first morning in Maine, when I overlooked the ocean in Portland, listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and felt the ocean breeze on my face. I envision heaven to be something similar…peaceful, sublime,Read more

Downtown Boston for Wordless Wednesday

Boston, MA. On the Freedom Trail, in the Italian District, on the Harborwalk. June 15-16, 2025. (More to follow with the Freedom Trail and its history.)Read more

#SoCS: A Jumble of Maine and Boston

Just like a collection of boats and yachts in the Boston Harbor, I am presenting a jumble of photos and tidbits from a very recent trip to the Maine coast and the city of Boston. The last two months have been a bit of an untidy collection that caused foregoing the blog for a while, as there were many hours/days/weeks spent in the garden in May, keeping my usual appointments and breakfast/lunch dates, and getting ready for the trip. TheRead more

This and That

It’s been a bit of a week. After attending church services, Easter was understated and quiet. I went home, did some laundry, vacuumed, and ate a piece or two of chocolate. On Tuesday, Gibbs went to the vet for his annual and the vet found he had a bad tooth that will need to be extracted in the near future. He sang to his people on the way there, but was more subdued on the way home (maybe it wasRead more

#SoCS: I’m Starving!

I require food, oh wicked human wench! Thou hast ignored mine loud and plaintiff pleas A cry for thine to stifle this starved quench While I am ignored with brazen-faced glee It is time, or as near as time allows Thy time piece doth not matter in this place Wench! Rise up! Give this catticus its chow I wish kibble, not a foolish embrace Thou is a mean human, beyond reproach Can wench not see that to death I shallRead more

Who Am I?

Hmmm… It’s a good, if not confusing, question. Similar to that interview question when the potential boss asks the potential employee to list their three strengths and three weaknesses and anxiety sets in. Will the employer think I’m bragging if I make myself sound too good? What if one of my weaknesses is too weak for the employer? How does one ever make a weakness sound like more of a strength? I am glad that at some point, my formerRead more

An Open Letter to the GOP

Dear GOP Senators, Representatives, and elected officials, What the hell? Make America Great Again? This is a joke, right? Perhaps a nightmare that all U.S. citizens will wake up from? What the GOP has shown me in the last eight years, but especially now: You are a party that is racist, bigoted, homophobic, narcissistic, hateful and only seem to care about your own power, wealth and status. You are elected officials who perhaps were doing what you thought was rightRead more