Where has the sunshine gone . . .

The forecast of rain hasn't happened but the skies are definitely darkened. We had a spatter of rain but mostly overcast and cold. It is definitely an night to cook something on a low and slow temperature in the oven to cook the food and keep us warm. I'm always amazed to see palms trees with the backdrop of clouds and cold temperatures. Last week, we were wearing short sleeves and tee shirts. Today, we are scrambling to find where we left our sweaters.

Amazing video . . .

This priest has an amazing way of presenting the facts regarding the obama mandate. If you didn't catch his first video on the subject, there is a note on the screen for accessing that one, too. I recommend it as he is factual and funny but serious about the subject.

http://youtu.be/QzPh1-t8VdM

The visiting cats . . .

For several weeks, we have been trying to gentle these three, little kittens to no avail. They like the food offerings, the convenient litter box in the garden, and the box with the blanket. The owners of the house . . . not so much! In the one picture, my husband has tried to make overtures to them while they were eating. You can see the shocked disdain in their fuzzy, little faces!

Lizard Season!

The sun is out more often, these days, and that is Chick's and the resident garden lizards favorite time of the year. Chick spends her days 'hunting' lizards and the lizards climb higher on the fences and walls to avoid Chick's advances. Once in awhile, she manges to nab one but is always chastised about it. As you can see from the picture, she still keeps her eye on the reward . . . or lizard. Once my husband's annual garden is up and thriving, the lizards move into the enclosure and Chick can only gaze at them longingly.

Words of Wisdom form St. Ephraem . . .

“Virtues are formed by prayer.
Prayer preserves temperance.
Prayer suppresses anger.
Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy.
Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to Heaven.”
~St Ephraem

The Termite Man Can . . .

I don't have a skeleton in the closet but I do have a closet that could easily conceal one given the accumulation of junk it once housed. Although I tried to keep a semblance of order in this extra space, it was really a disgrace but as long as it wasn't accessible to the public, I kept it's existence on hold at the back of my mind.

I was 'outed' last year . . . by the termite inspector. We had a small termite invasion in the wall of one bedroom. We signed up for the annual servce and got the problem resolved. The next year, we got a more thorough termite inspector and he opened the door to my Pandora's Box of a closet . . . and found termites. In order to determine the scope of the problem, he started handing out stuff . . . and more stuff . . . and more stuff while my face reddened appreciably. He marked off the areas that needed attention and made an appointment for the following week to treat it.

I spent the next week going through the contents of the closet, purchased some shelving and threw out tons of long-forgotten items. It is almost a thing of beauty to behold now.

I had to laugh over this with my husband. When his parents were still able to travel, they would visit every six months or so and the announcement that they were coming would initiate a frenzy of deep cleaning. They haven't been able to travel for years now so it seems our termite man has taken over the push to clean for us as he looks into more closets and cupboards then they ever did! God provides often to humble us.

A lot of truth here!

The real judges of your character aren't your neighbors, your relatives, or even the people you play bridge with. The folks who really know you are waiters, waitresses, and clerks.

- Katherine Piper