Saturday-8am

My cat on drugs!

Karma is crazy for this fresh, homegrown catnip from Ruby. She hunkers down and protects it with a paw on either side--as if she expects to have to fight somebody for it? Who? Her imaginary friends? Me? ROFL!

She vocally races about the apartment--up and off the chairs--under and over her packaging toys--like a crazy woman!

Then....she sleeps it off.

I opened the cutter boxes up yesterday.

Here's the Dahle cutter.

Here's the Logan Compact 32" (301-S). comes with a straight edge and a beveled edge cutter. Has a video! I haven't watched it yet, but I will before I ever try to use it.

And--remember the pretty box Leah saved for me?

I took out the inside forms and threw a clean art rag in the bottom for now--just to keep things from sliding around. Seemed a good place for the cutting blades and the two spare packages of blades. I may change my mind later, but it seems to be a good fit. :)

Yesterday was a cooking and baking day for me. I made up some rice, a big vat of bean soup with ham, and even made a jello cake! Haven't had one of those for many, many years. :) Going to have a nice, cold slice today.

One of the fluorescent bulbs went out a couple days ago in the kitchen ceiling fixture. The other one had gotten so dim that it was pointless to even turn it on--even at night. I called the office yesterday and the maintenance man came and replaced both of them! Wow! Nice and bright in there now! I guess there are some advantages to apartment living, eh?

He told me he's waiting for the 40 foot ladder to come back over here (the company owns several apartment complexes)--probably Monday--so that he can get up into the dryer vent and dig out the nest again. He ordered a different kind of a cover this time. He had put a cover on last time--but the birds could push it aside or open somehow!! So, anyways, maybe we will keep them out this time? I love them, but not in the dryer vent.

The first spring I was here a pair of swallows built a nest on the porch light. (Another reason I put up the screen--hehe!) But I let them have the porch until the babies were grown and gone. (They would dive bomb you if you tried to go out on the porch.) After the young swallows weren't using my porch railing as a spot to wait to be fed and had gone off into the world--then I tore down the nest and cleaned up all the mess on the porch and the railings, etc. Poop everywhere! Took a long time and a lot of scrubbing--so I had to do it little by little, of course. But--I never thought to call and ask them to send the maintenance man to do it. I guess he has had to tear down a lot of nests on the porch lights. I would never have called--since it was my choice to let them stay. I was probably one of the few people who let them stay and make a really huge mess, too! hehe! They are so beautiful--delicate, yet strong and resilient. I love to watch them dancing and swooping in the wind outside the windows up here on third floor. I should see if I can find pictures of our porch nest--and of little Karma watching the swallows. (She was mesmerized, of course.) Maybe tomorrow....