Happy First Full Day of Autumn!

I cannot believe I missed posting on the first day of Autumn, which began yesterday at 9:31 a.m. our time! Anyway, happy first FULL day of Autumn, let's just do that! I did work a long day yesterday starting in the early morning hours, but my husband and I honored Autumn with both lunch and supper, ha ha. 

Seriously, though - lunch was great. Butternut squash and sweet apple soup, accompanied by toasted and heavily buttered sourdough bread, and a pumpkin shaped iced sugar cookie, shown in the first photo. Supper was oven-baked mac'n cheese and the rest of the toasted sourdough bread. All nice and warming on a day where we only reached 69 degrees very late in the day and only very briefly. The babies enjoyed it too; my mom and I spent about an hour and a half with them outside in the cool, then later in the evening, my husband and I took them back outside for another 30 minutes to run off all that good energy. It was a really nice first day of Autumn.

This past weekend, we enjoyed a hike in a town about 30 minutes away. Some of the hike got a tad dicey, and I had to scoot back up the mountain on my backside! Did you know that you use a totally different set of muscles to do that? Talk about sore! The next two shots, though, show the view from a couple of the places where we stopped on the hike to take pictures. Just gorgeous! No foliage just yet; too early around these parts. As you can see in the next picture of the trail itself, we are still quite green right now. You'd have to head to New England with the other leafers if you want foliage views in September . That's okay, though. Since we tend to have our foliage season in mind-October through a portion of November, some years we still have a dab of color towards Thanksgiving, which keeps the landscape from getting toilet scrub-brush depressing too quickly! 

The next picture is me with my sweetheart of over 22 years at the end of the hike. We were pooped! Look at that hiking hair on me, lol. But we're happy and, after that trek on my backside to get back up the mountain, I was thrilled to be on more solid footing!

Look at Georgie and Baby (LOL) Oliver! Aren't they the sweetest?! He LOVES her! She tolerates him! Several times a week, he will crawl up beside her on the couch and sleep all snuggled up with her. Here you can see that he's very nearly in snuggle position. It was just a matter of time - maybe five minutes - before he had managed to maneuver right along side of her and lay his head on her side! It's hilarious to watch. 

Finally, in the last picture, I just had to show how the babies often wait on each other. Each evening when we go outside to play, we carry them to the fenced-in area. One by one, we take them out. The ones that are taken out first often (not always, but often) wait patiently at the gate as the others start to arrive. Here are Baby Trudy and Baby TC waiting on us to bring Mama Bunny and Baby Higgins out. Once they all get there, they take off running. You talk about melting your heart! Now that's love.

It's getting darker much earlier these days. Makes for better rest, in my opinion, but I hate to lose the daylight, too. Yesterday, the sun fell across the fields around us. It was spectacular - everything looked gold. The light this time of year is unlike anything I've ever seen throughout the year. In a week, we'll add my October blue sky to the mix, and my heart will be fuller than ever. 

It's SO important for me to mark time with simple things. I'm grateful to be a busy person; it means a full life, that I'm contributing somewhere on some level, that God has blessed me with the gift of good health so that I CAN be busy. I try really hard to stop myself from complaining on the hard days, although I am human and sometimes fail in that area. But at the end of the day, it feels good to earn my keep and create a life around me and not just have it handed to me while I do nothing. 

We were created by God to be productive human beings, and I think that's why I feel a deep satisfaction at the end of a full workday. I have friends who have been "furloughed" permanently due to Covid. My heart hurts for them, and I know that it could be any of us at any time. These are hard-working people who just want to work and take care of themselves and their families. For anyone out there looking for a job right now, hang in there, keep pushing through. I've been there, and I know that it can be a wearying experience. Hang on to hope, for sure.

Have a wonderful first full day of Autumn! I'm getting ready to begin mine by cleaning up a hairball (ahhh, rescue work - it never ends) and then, perhaps, making some buttery cinnamon toast! Can't think of a nicer nod to Autumn (the toast, not the hairball).

 

Saturday Gifts

Sometimes you get multiple gifts in one day, moments that just happened, unexpected and kind and nice and encouraging. Yesterday was that kind of day. The weather was sheer bliss and - if the 10-day forecast is any indication - it will stay blissful for many days to come. I'm so, so grateful. Currently, it's 49 degrees with clouds and a high of 71 today. Heaven!!

The day started out with old-fashioned, homemade pumpkin-chocolate chip bread. Now, I don't make this. I could. I've made it in the past. But I don't anymore. I've learned that I cannot have several loaves of this in my house. I sit and eat it all because it is so addictive. That's not even a joke; that's basically what happens. But we have a local coffee/ice cream/baked goods stand called Creamy Cup that meets this need! Located directly across from the University where I work, this wonderful stand has seasonal goodies, including homemade pumpkin-chocolate chip bread. Each birthday and Christmas, my mother-in-law gets me generous gift cards to Creamy Cup, and it is, hands down, something I look forward to every single time I get one.

So I went and got us a loaf of that bread from them! And the bonus was that the bread was a gift, thanks to my mother-in-law! There's something about an old-fashioned loaf of sweet bread that takes you back over the years, reminding you one more time how nice the anticipation can be leading up to all of the holidays that fall within the last quarter of the year. On top of that, you get foliage and crisp, cool air and the mosquitoes start to die. Bliss! It was a GREAT way to start the day.

A friend came over to borrow a tool mid-morning, so we did what all mutual animal-lovers do, and we took the babies outside for some extra playtime (work can wait, sometimes!). We sat in chairs in that cool breeze and watched them play and had the nicest talk for a little over an hour. It was lovely and calm and good. This is a decades-old friend, so the comfort level of being with them is off the charts. I enjoy meeting new people, but there's just something about someone you've known for a very long time where you click with the same ideologies. The compatibility is priceless. We had the nicest time and created a memory.

Later in the afternoon, my mom dropped by with some Halloween goodies. Now, if you have multiple four-legged babies, you don't get out of the house much outside of the routine of going to work. As the babies have gotten older, it's gotten a bit easier, but on weekends, we tend to stay nearby in order to give them extra outside playtime. No worries, they have tons of toys and play a lot in their big living room, but babies need room to run and stretch! So we try to sprinkle in lots of extra time outside on the weekends. My mom knows that I don't get many places these days, and she knows that I love Halloween (it's my jam). The pictures below are a few of the goodies she brought me!

The first one is, by far, my favorite. Y'all, that's Pyrex!! Halloween Pyrex! It's a nice-sized dish, too! I have never seen Halloween Pyrex before! I was so excited. I'll use the heck out of this thing up through October 31st!!! I swear, don't the craziest things bring us joy?!

Next, a pumpkin diffuser with pumpkin pie wax melts. Yep, I've already plugged it in and am using it. Very nice. The pumpkin scent is subtle, not overly strong, but still VERY good. Makes you want pie, though. And here's the thing - I haven't made a pumpkin pie yet this year. That's crazy and tells you how busy we've been! Last year, by this time, I had made two whole pumpkin pies. 

Now, see, this is why I chronicle - to compare the differences from year to year, understand why things have changed (add a mama and three babies to the mix, things change a bit), and recognize what is different in the current year because of change. Yes, Bunny and the babies brought about some change. But I will tell you this- that mama and those three babies? They are sweeter than any pumpkin pie you will ever experience in your lifetime. Who cares about pie when you have delicious-smelling, new babies and a mama in your life? I cannot imagine life without them now, and I cannot get enough of them. I was - and still am - the same way about my boys,  Baby Oscar and Baby Oliver. Babies are highly addictive. I still see my boys as The Littles. I always will.

Then, some jammies! Look at these! Aren't they cute?? Flannel Halloween PJs! I'm a VERY frugal person, so when I see things like this, I tend to pass on them, no matter how much I love them. I always think about how I can use the money for my rescue babies or to help someone else with their rescue babies. My heart truly is with four-leggeds in need, so I'm always thrilled to put any little bit of extra money in the direction of rescue work. But I adore flannel jammies! These will be worn threadbare, I am confident of that!

Mom and I finished out the evening spending time with the babies outside for their last hour and a half of playtime before putting them inside for their wet snack and bedtime. I checked on them about 45 minutes after we put them up for the evening. Everyone was sacked out and sleeping hard, recuperating from their big Saturday! The heater is now on in their new building, so they were toasty little things, all curled up together, dreaming of chasing butterflies and falling leaves, I'm sure. Like I said - nothing quite like babies to melt your heart and give you a natural high.  

I'm grateful for yesterday, and I'm grateful for today - whatever it may hold. With a repeat of the weather, I certainly cannot complain about that aspect of what is ahead of us today. There are some necessary things that we have to get done today, but those won't take too terribly long. Outside of that, the day is ours, so we will see how it unfolds. Blessed Sunday to you!

The 40s and Joy!

First of all, my 40s are in the rear-view window, so if you thought that title was about being in my 40s, it's not! It's about something way better than that (although I liked my 40s; they were a good decade for me)! Starting Saturday night, we are dropping to the mid-to-low 40s at night! Woo-hoo! Even better, starting yesterday, we are in the low 70s for several days in a row! The first day of Autumn this year will truly feel like Autumn, and I'm grateful. 

This past Tuesday was beautiful. Nearly no humidity and only 78 degrees. Wednesday was the same, 78 degrees, but the humidity began building in anticipation of the remnants of Sally making its way here. She arrived Thursday morning, and although the rain has stopped, today will be cloudy and 71 and very breezy. That's the thing with cooldowns - they only roll in after something squishy or windy or nasty passes through. Take the good with the bad and roll with it. My heart goes out to the people who have been in the direct path of this ongoing onslaught of hurricanes and tropical storms. It has to be discouraging.

As you can see from the first picture, we've begun working on the yard. I still have to do the front porch, but that will be done - I hope - this weekend. For a lot of people, the seasons have run together this year. I wonder if they have definitive practices or habits or traditions for each season? If not, I can see how things could blur together. It takes effort to keep up with tradition when you just kind of want to sit on the couch and wait for all the icky stuff to pass! But we still have a whole quarter of a year left; that's an awful long time to simply sit around and stew in the soup of frustration! Lots can get done in this last quarter of 2020.

It's been an odd year, for sure. But in the end, I have mostly kept all my favorite traditions, and I think that has made the difference for me. I've loved each season, but Autumn is, hands down, my favorite. Ironically, my second favorite used to be Winter, but somewhere along the way, Summer moved into second place. Not because of the heat and the bugs and the humidity. I hate those things! But because of the tomatoes and the flowers and the lack of need to add layer after layer of clothing each time I take the dog or kitties outside. Winter is beautiful to look at if it snows; but if there is no snow, the landscape really does look like toilet scrub brushes! Spring is just volatile these days and the mornings stay freezing cold for weeks on end. I could skip it altogether sometimes, but we do get some lovely, moderately cool (not freezing) spring days up through the month of June.

The other pictures are baby pictures, of course! They're growing like weeds! Mama Bunny looks so good. She is owned and loved, and it shows. Look at her with a baby up that tree! She showed Higgins how to get down. Higgins has become the ultimate tree navigator. She's impressive!

Isn't my little guy plush looking?? He is the BEST to hold. His gorgeous eyes really pop in that silky, black fur. He's cuddly and is the only one who will lay in my lap for a minute or two without squirming away to go chase things and play tag with the siblings. He'll let me cover his face with kisses and stroke his precious little belly. He's got the sweetest personality, too. Just a love-bug. 

Higgins is by far the largest of the three kitties. She's smart and fast and always thinking about something. She's a stunning kitty with her markings, and she knows it! She's my husband's baby; he's very smitten with her. She's very nearly a border collie in cat pajamas.

Baby Trudy is just that - the baby. The tiniest baby by far, she won't get very big and will stay a much smaller kitty than her siblings. She's smart, though, and lives in her own world. She's definitely the happy-go-lucky baby of the bunch. Everyone is drawn to Trudy, and with good reason. She's irresistible. When I think of yummy kitties, Trudy comes to mind.

These babies are finally at the five-month-plus-a-bit-more mark, and what a relief. I'm hoping that it is smoother sailing now, and that when their chronic issue flares up from time to time, they recuperate quickly. Their bodies are developed and stronger now, with better immune systems in place. Everyone has been spayed/neutered and fully vaccinated. Time for what I hope is some normalcy in our future!! I will say that last night, after the rain finally passed through (we got a bunch), we did take them outside for a bit. They were happy, little muddy piglets by the time they wore out and we put them back in their little home for an evening snack and bed. They got cleaned up first, muddy paws and tiny bellies wiped off oh-so-carefully.

Full disclosure - I have not yet made it to our local Peggy Ann Bakery for their pumpkin donuts. I'm going to try to make it this Friday, if possible. With highs on Saturday and Sunday of only 71 and 72  and low humidity (we won't reach those temps till very late in the day), it's definitely going to be a pumpkin-everything weekend. That's front porch weather, so I need to kick it into gear and get my porch ready for Autumn. I know there are some other pumpkin goodies at Peggy Ann's, as well, so I may just stock up and fill my freezer with their goodies. Any time I've ever frozen their baked goods, once defrosted, they've tasted just as good as the day they were made. Right now, they have lots of pumpkin goodies.

I've got a couple of Autumn activities to look forward to, although due to Covid circumstances, some annual things are canceled this year. That's okay for now; just readjust and plan something different and pray that next year we are back to normal.

One thing that has changed this year that is akin to our local county fair tradition for me - which, as you know, got canceled, so I did not get my annual arts, garden, and craft exhibition tour or funnel cake this past July! - is the annual breakfast at one of our historic churches downtown. The church is also the mother church of the university where we work, so we have always tried to support the annual breakfast. We've done this for as long as I can remember! 

Arriving around 9 a.m., we stuff ourselves full of gravy, biscuits, eggs, stewed apples, fried potatoes, sliced tomatoes and, for the meat eaters, bacon and sausage. This is always followed by a walking tour of our local downtown area to see the scarecrow contest exhibits, tour the art exhibit at our historic gorgeous hotel, and stroll around our sizable antique mart. I will miss it terribly this year, maybe more so than the fair. It's a community connector in a small town, where you see people you haven't seen in ages and you hug the necks of friends you just don't have time to get together with very often. A small town can be a fish bowl, but it can also have its moments of deep caring and support. It's an annual marker for me, and it makes me a bit blue that we will all have to wait until next year (knock on wood).

So, readjust those sails on a different route, right? I'm ready today for snickerdoodle cookies (we have some in our kitchen right now), pumpkin donuts and maple coffee. It's the perfect day for it, and I plan to indulge. There are a lot of people who will get up this morning and face a very hard day, whether it's for health reasons or due to the hurricane or a myriad of other things. I'm sure they'd love to feel like they just have a day to indulge, and so I would be remiss if I didn't begin this weekend with a spirit of gratitude. Ahead of us, there are bright days and dark days and everything in-between. It is good to remember that no matter what kind of day we have, that God is in control, even if we don't make the right decisions or circumstances keep happening to us. Simply put, He loves us. That is everything.

 

They Thought They Could Break Us

Nineteen years ago, there was a group of people who thought they could break us. It did not work. We are still here - not perfect and at times, far too divided for my taste. But nonetheless, we are still here. 

The resiliency of this country is phenomenal. At the core of its resiliency are the people who refuse to divide the nation but instead choose to live decent, good lives with the ability to contribute positively in every single way. They contribute to the workforce, canceling out the increased laziness we see in a society where people don't want to work. They get up every day, strap on their figurative boots, tighten their belts and dig in and get to work while chaos swirls around them. They have a stick-to-it factor that so many people lack. They have follow-through talent and zero expectations that things will magically get better for them. In their hearts, they know that the exhausting but rewarding work they do is the thing that makes them - and the country that they love - so unique. 

There is a busyness that this kind of life requires; it leaves no room for hatred or destruction or fear. It thrives, instead, on being productive. There isn't time to listen to the "scary" news, or to allow close influences to grab hold of your ear and fill it full of paralyzing nonsense. There is no room for excuses in a world where hard work and the willingness to be a kind and loving and good citizen exists.

The only way I know to honor those lost lives is to live my life in the best way possible. On that day, so very many of them did exactly what I do every day - they got up, they went to work, and they planned to spend the next few hours of their lives doing what they knew was necessary by putting in a hard day's work. They woke up to be productive, not destructive. They woke up in anticipation of another day on this planet, in a country where opportunities exist if you are willing to put in the effort. 

Love to my fellow Americans on this day that reflects an unwanted history of those mid-morning hours so many years ago. While we cannot change that history, we can honor and remember it by always trying to do the right thing, no matter how hard that is some days.

 

General Mundane Stuff and I Hate Mosquitoes

Happy Tuesday, which this week is technically my work Monday (in the sense that we were off on Monday, so today is my "Monday," and those usually bring a bit of a challenge after a long weekend). I love long weekends, but the Tuesday following one is always a bear! It's okay, though. I like my job, so I work through each situation like a puzzle. Silver lining is a big sense of accomplishment after crawling out from under everything.

I was grateful to have the long weekend, though, and we had the BEST Labor Day, just me and my husband. We got up, gave babies lots of good outside time, then we headed to a nearby park with hiking trails and spent a couple hours on those trails. You can see from the first picture in the list that the wooden bridge heads into the woods. It does turn into dirt/rock trails, but it was beautiful. We were blessed with humidity in the 30 percent range, and we were in shade the entire hike. It was just absolutely perfect. When we finished, we went for waffles at 1 p.m. I opted for chocolate chip waffles topped with strawberries and whipped cream (second picture). Then, we went to a Halloween Party Store and looked at all of the fun stuff there. We had a blast!

As you can see, most of the pumpkins got harvested yesterday. There are still a few turning on the vine, but for the most part, they've been picked. They won't hold up for long. Even though they grew really well, the extra-rainy weather drew SO many bugs this year that, unless we were willing to use a lot of pesticide (which gets into the soil and then your other garden vegetables, so that's not happening), there really was no way to prevent the pumpkins from getting buggy. We'll use them outside and then, when they rot, toss them into the woods for critters to enjoy.

The corn shocks that my dad made from our garden corn stalks turned out great. These will go in front of three of our huge trees, along with ribbon and pumpkins, and I'll declare the yard decorated for Autumn. I still need to do my front porch, though. Can't decide if I want a giant pot of yellow mums this year or not. Would be awfully pretty with the navy porch ceiling. I love navy and yellow for Autumn.

Next three shots are Bunny and babies. Isn't the one where Baby Trudy is stretching up towards her mama just absolutely precious? I was so worried that this little one was not going to make it. She got SO sickly and was so much tinier than the other two kittens. She is still much smaller than the other two, but she's strong now, and eats well and is thriving! Thank you, God. I prayed over her and her littermates constantly. I still do, but now it's prayers for continued health and prayers of gratefulness that are no longer anchored in anxiety and fear. 

Also note that Bunny and Trudy are lying in the grass holding each other's paws. These kittens LOVE their mama, and she loves them right back. Mamas rarely get to keep their litter. I hope we did the right thing, not separating them. They're an extremely bonded clowter. They do not like to be separated from each other. At the end of the day, after we nursed them through some tough times, I just could not let them go. I worry so much that it was a selfish decision; but I also know that with their chronic respiratory health issue, keeping them in their controlled environment will probably serve their health needs a lot better and prevent the spread of the virus to any other animals that are in the homes where we would have placed them. 

Next picture is Baby Higgins up a tree. Good grief. It is a constant battle to keep her on the ground. As long as she doesn't go up too high, I don't worry too much. But she's overly curious and just HAS to see what's farther up in those trees. It'll make you nuts with worry sometimes. 

It looks like our cooldown doesn't set in until this coming Sunday, now. It was supposed to be here by Wednesday. But that's okay. After next Sunday, it looks like 70s for highs, and soon enough, I'll be complaining about the cold. Another warm week certainly won't do me in, and it'll give me something to think about when I'm bundled up and shivering and cursing the month of February (yes, I do that).

My October sky and Crocktober are getting closer and closer! I cannot wait!! We've picked out our day trip in accordance with the fall foliage peaks on the TN/NC border. Comfy shoes, sweatshirts, bottled water, snacks, a full tank of gas, and a mosey up the parkway to stop at overlooks and take mini-hikes is on the table, but we may chuck all that and just drive on up to the Western NC Farmers Market to look at the giant pumpkins (and I mean GIANT) they have there each year! We haven't been the last three years, and it's always hoot. I hope you're making some fun Autumn plans. It's that one season that seems to go by in a flash, while the other seasons drag on, particularly mosquito season.

Time to get this day rolling. I hope that wherever you are, you have a great day and that all the mosquitoes where you live die suddenly and forever. I think the world would be a kinder place if we weren't all eaten up with mosquito bites. Just sayin'!

Get those Crocktober recipes together! It'll be here soon!

 

Weather with Glittery Wrapping and a Fancy Bow

Happy weekend, finally! Long weekend coming up what with Labor Day holiday and all that. Very excited for our cooldown that has rolled in. The weekend looks like a gift, with humidity making itself scarce for at least three days in a row. Thank goodness. Humidity really is something that could make a girl just snap. Today, we won't even hit 80 degrees until 4 p.m., and that only lasts an hour. Around lunchtime today, I'll take babies out to play! At 71 degrees and 46 percent humidity, that's definitely play weather for little ones!

Today's pictures are pretty self-explanatory. On Thursday night, Mama-Bunny went a long ways up a tree. When I tried to coax her to come down, she just gave me a look. After a few minutes, she trotted down that angled tree all on her own and landed gracefully on the ground, no easy task as she has chunked up quite a bit since we've had her. I will say that the crook of the limb she's sitting on is nice and broad and really would be a tempting spot for a kitty to roost on and watch everything going on all around her!

Local friends, take note: Peggy Ann had pumpkin cake donuts yesterday! My September 1st ode to pumpkin post was just in time, wasn't it??!! It's pumpkin season! But seriously, you need to know that these are seasonal and, generally, if you want to purchase more than a dozen, you should call ahead and order them. It is good stuff.

My little boy gets naughtier every day. He's figured out how to scale the gate in the fenced-in area, and then he makes a run for it. One really does forget how fast kittens are until they're pushed to run after one! His saving grace is that he's OH-SO-CUTE!! I'm sure I drive him nuts because when I pick him up, I simply cannot help myself. I do a gentle squish-cuddle with him so that he can't squirm, and I kiss his face over and over. It's his own fault, though, for being so yummy.

When you've been so busy that it's January 1st, and you turned around and it's September 5th (that's pretty much how it has worked this year), and then you get these sporadic long holiday weekends, frankly, you don't know what to do with yourself. At least I don't! Sunday is a definite for a nice, long run. When humidity is low, I can run forever with little effort. I've been running since 2013, and it has always been that way for me. I've never adapted over the course of seven years to humidity when running. My body just cannot handle it. We'll see what Monday plans bring, although I hope something pumpkin is involved.

I need to get final pictures of the pumpkin patch. They're ready to be picked, and the corn is nearly ready to layer into shocks for the yard. I'm going this weekend to go pick out the fall ribbons for the trees. I cannot decide if I want an Autumn plaid - something so very comforting about plaid patterns - or if I want something that has leaves or candy corn, etc. I'm seriously leaning towards the plaid this year; I'd love something with orange, brown, mustard yellow, hunter green. That's some old-school Autumn, isn't it? I like paisley, too, but for easier visual effect for outdoor decorations, I think plaid is better since our house sits so far off the road. I leave my Autumn decorations up through Thanksgiving. We do NOT do Christmas decorations at Thanksgiving around here. If that's your thing, that's fine! I think you should do what brings you comfort. But I look forward to the season of ghosts and goblins and then the season of thankfulness all year long. There's no way I'm shelving it before it fully runs its course. Christmas can wait.

I'm still counting down the days till Crocktober!!! Out of all the choices of bandwagons to jump on these days, this is the one I'm joining! Can't think of a nicer way to open up the season of the ghouls than with crockpot goulash, toasted French baguette and a spooky movie. I'm all over this, y'all. Since October is on a Thursday, I'll actually make the goulash the night before. I have thought my whole life that goulash tastes better the next day. Lots of things do, though - chili, leftover holiday casseroles, spaghetti sauce. I want to try crockpot French toast, too.

Today's weather starts me out wanting a giant, frosted cinnamon roll from our local bulk store, which is not far from us at all. They open at 8:30 a.m., so I'm thinking that may be a thing today. I haven't had one in a while. It would taste great with maple bourbon coffee. Lots of fall festivals are being canceled this year, as I expected they would be. In addition, Myers Pumpkin Patch will not be doing their haunted maze this year. They do a bang-up job; I mean, it's impressive! But I completely understand canceling it. Hopefully, next year will be back to normal. They are open during the day, however, so that you can go by and get fall goodies such as pumpkins, squash and gourds. 

I must needs go now because baby Oliver (yeah, I know, he's a huge 16+ pound Maine Coon mix now, but he's still my baby) is being really terrible this morning. He's trashing everything. He has been outside under the stars for a bit this morning, and the cooler air has him fairly revved up. He's back inside now and really just kind of using his size and the heft behind it to wreak havoc on a few things. Going to grab him and make him cuddle with me. Maybe if I gently scratch his chest and neck, he'll fall asleep! 

Happy weekend to you, whatever your plans and wherever you are. Fingers crossed for lovely weather for you, too!!