happy at home

It is so nice to have some time to be home.

This last week I have been struggling with a cold that just won't go away.
In an effort to heal and boost my health, I have been trying to sleep lot and lots
(propped up on pillows to breathe), have been swilling green tea by the gallon (& little coffee),
and drinking green smoothies for breakfast every day.
Fresh pressed apple juice, frozen blueberries, bananas and peaches, and big handfuls of chard or kale.
Delicious. So nutritious. I love to start the day with something green.

Now: the start to the weekend. A Friday evening grocery trip with Minou to replenish the bare cupboards, and a plan for cozy cooking tomorrow: leek and potato soup, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, homemade pizza, and blueberry pie. I love to bake, and like to bake several things together when the oven is hot.

Keeping these p'tit minous fed is a constant job. P'tit minou deux has been requesting a second supper every evening, usually at lights-out time. Unless I'm on my own way to bed, I don't argue; we go back downstairs and it gives me a chance to get a vitamin and another fruit and veggie into him as well as another serving of dinner or a pbj. We have worried a bit over this one and his light appetite over the years, so I enjoy watching him eat. He is 13 now. I'm expecting to look up and find him as tall as me any day now.

This weekend I will also be making a trip to the home-improvement superstore with Minou when he goes to buy supplies for the attic. Drywall is next. We'll be sleeping there soon. I'm planning to buy painter's tape and get our downstairs ready to paint before my mother-in-law arrives for a visit in three weeks. We have had had warm, bright colors in our living space for several years now. It was my choice, an antidote to the winter gray here. The living room has a long red wall (dark brick red) and bright sunflower yellow walls. I'm tired of it now. I want a look that is more serene, peaceful. Our ceilings will stay white, and the floor downstairs is an off-white tile. For the walls, I have been going back and forth between a true white, off-white, and a pale tan/taupe.

What do you think? What would look more serene?

dance day and cat fights

dance day

Not for me, but p'tit minou deux. Today is the start of his twice-yearly Weekend of Dance. His ballet studio puts on a great production each holiday season. It is amazing to watch it come together, like kneading raggedy scraps of bread dough into the smooth, shiny, finished product and watching it rise and bake.

He will be at rehearsal a solid 8-9 hours today, then has two shows in the next two days. Whew.

Other than dance rehearsal, or maybe because of it, it's a quiet day around the Maison des Minous. Friends will be coming over later to help with the attic windows, and play a game. We had a great meal yesterday. I made my most successful apple pie ever, and I know why. I gave up on trying to make a "healthy" pie crust with olive oil and whole wheat flour. If that doesn't sound very good, you're right--it isn't. Yesterday's used white flour and butter, and it was delicious...

P'tit minou deux, who I believe may be starting a growth spurt (or is just starving because of all the dancing he's doing) ate a quarter of the pie for breakfast this morning. Along with milk and a pear, don't worry.

cat fights

A big black cat that I've never seen before just stealth-attacked Mowsie, who was sleeping on the patio porch just two feet from me. We have been having a lot of trouble with fighting cats lately. Our cats have lived here so long that they mistakenly believe the whole area around us belongs to them (some of the other homes weren't built yet when we originally moved in next door). Newcomers feel the need to challenge this, and I think our cats sometimes go out of their way to seek those challenges.

Our biggest, lovey-est cat James has been the worst offender when it comes to fighting. He has had several terrible wounds. After the first, we dutifully took him to the vet's, had his injury cleaned and stitched (he had to be put under), and got him antibiotics. The bill was shocking, and I warned him that if he continued to fight, he was taking his own chances. He didn't listen. He amazingly recovered from another deep wound all on his own (I did soak and clean it, but no vet involvement). Now he has a third. What to do?

sunny day

• The rain is gone for now and I have a day at home during the week.
• Minou is upstairs drawing and pricing an attic renovation, from storage to sleeping loft.
• An architect must follow code, and Minou is a man of principles. We will have a permit.
• That attic was once full--and is now almost empty. Sigh of relief.
• My good friend and longtime former neighbor stopped by for coffee and sunflowers.
• She gifted me with a huge bowl of orange garden cherry tomatoes, and a bag of chard and kale for the simmering Italian potato-leek-bean-tomato soup on the stove.
• She is feeling more settled in her new home. And while I wish it were nearer to our home, I'm glad.
• I made whole wheat blueberry-apple muffins for the boys' after-school-and-ballet snack.
• First mammogram this morning: not painful at all. Whew!
• how was your day?