Further Adventures of Jessica the Foster Kitten

 Our foster kitten "Jessica" is growing in confidence daily:

Now she's chill around the pugs, especially when they're being quiet:

She's getting confident enough to go up to them and take an exploratory sniff:

Here's Mu Shu, just watching the kitten show:

 She's fascinated by my laptop--to the point that it's hard to get any work done:

I ate some cherries out of this colander, and she kept pulling it toward her with her paw. I thought she wanted a cherry, so I bit one in two and offered it to her. She sniffed it politely, but what she really wanted was the colander! It has been a favorite toy--especially when we put a ball inside it:

I fed her and Pao the some little treats, and hers skittered under his belly. She tried to get it out. Pao tried to not freak out as a kitten tickled his undersides:

She strikes such gorgeous poses by the window. The light there is great:

 This was yesterday. Three pugs basking in the sun, and Jessica exploring around them:

I was just about to take this fun kitten tunnel to Goodwill, since Lovely Daughter #1 doesn't need it any more (Olivia got too big to fit). So glad I didn't, because Jessica loves it:

Yesterday was a big day. The Boy and I barricaded off the family room, and we let her explore it. She liked sharing the couch with The Boy:

And even with Won Ton:

The chaise was also a hit. Do you think she knows what a great looker she is?

Speaking of lookers, here's a couple of my beauties:

Although Jessie's kitten antics have turned our lives upside down...

We're having fun. And she's learning to be a wonderful, laid-back cat!

Beach Day with Dogs

Hello! We're back from vacation, and it's sizzling in Los Angeles. The Boy and Lovely Daughter #2 are visiting us temporarily. So we loaded up the pugs in my car and drove to the off-leash dog beach to cool down in the surf.

The pugs hit the beach, running as fast as their little legs could take them:

Mu Shu was okay with the wavelets:

Won Ton preferred watching things from the wet-sand zone:

And Pao Pao was NOT going near those scary waves. But he did some impressive tongue-out action on the dry sand:

All three pugs had a blast, tailing after other dogs on the beach:

Won Ton, checking out a local dig:

The pugs have very little sense--okay, no sense at ALL--of stranger danger. They mobbed anybody they could, saying "Hi!" and "Got snacks?" and...Pao!! What the HECK are you doing to that nice young lady?:

 He's not saying, but he sure had a big smile on his face.

When the waves got too much, Mu Shu enjoyed watching them from the safe, strong arms of The Boy:

What a fun day at the beach!

 The End.

Besties

This is a brief story of two houses and two best friends, who lived in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 150 years ago.

One friend was named Sallie:

(Don't let her dour looks fool you! People had to hold verrrrry still for a long time to take a photograph back in 1860, when this was taken. So they tended to have Resting Bitch Face a lot.)

Sallie was a lively, intelligent, kind-hearted young woman who lived in a big, comfortable house with her parents and younger sister, Mattie:

(That's Sallie, standing in back.)

This was their house, the way it looked when it was decorated for Independence Day in 1885. By that time, it had been in her family for three decades or so:

The house still stands. This is how it looked a few years ago. The front door underwent a transformation back in the 1930s, but it is still very much the same house:

One of Sallie's best friends in town was Lucy:

Like Sally, Lucy also lived a comfortable lifestyle. Her parents--and her 12 siblings!--were a prominent family in town.

This was Lucy's house (on the left) and its carriage house (on the right):

These two girls did the usual fun stuff back then--sleigh rides and musical evenings, entertaining gentlemen callers, having girlfriends over for tea, getting their photos taken and buying ribbons and finery to decorate their bonnets.

But they were also really good people. Sallie taught Sunday school at the local Baptist church, and when she was finished there, she went to the "Colored Church," as it was called back then, and taught Sunday school for the children there.

Lucy's family ran a station on the Underground Railroad, ferrying runaway slaves to the North and freedom. Harboring runaway slaves was a dangerous business; if she or her family were caught, it could have spelled ruin for them all.

Under the cover of night, Lucy carried blankets and hot meals out to the slaves hidden in the hay of her family's carriage house. Years later, she spoke about how scared she was to do that, how she was exposing her whole family to danger. But she did it, anyway.

Sallie's and Lucy's families were united at the beginning of the 20th century when Sallie's daughter married Lucy's nephew. The two friends--now relatives by marriage--lived long, full lives before they finally passed away as very old ladies.

Both their family's houses still stand. And last weekend, Lovely Daughter #2 visited them both. This was Sallie's house:

And this was Lucy's house:

Lovely Daughter #2 in front of Lucy's carriage house, where the slaves hid:

A peek inside the carriage house. If those walls could talk!:

So, LD#2 is Sallie's great-great-granddaughter, and Lucy's great-great-great niece:

And, I don't know, but...there seems to be a similarity between Sallie and her great-great granddaughter. Do you see it?:

Maybe now?:

I love to think that the ghosts of these two lovely women were thrilled to see one of their progeny visit the houses where they used to live and laugh and love.

Happy Anniversary

Exactly 35 years ago--on May 25, 1980--The Hubby and I were married. What an exhilarating day that was!

A lot has happened between that photo and this one: Three fabulous and gorgeous children launched into the world, two fulfilling careers, a victory over cancer, three lovely homes lived in, dozens of epic vacations, lots of tears, lots of belly laughs.

And we're still in it as a team. Happy anniversary, dude!

 Let's go climb a mountain together. 

Memorial Day

Several Memorial Days back, I paid tribute to my dad, Charles, who served his country for two and a half decades as an officer in the Air Force. Here's a photo of him during World War II in a military hospital, surrounded by his crew. He was recuperating from wounds he received while captaining his B-17 in an air fight over Germany:

In the past year, I have learned about the life of this man, my great-great Uncle George Shorkley (below). Like my father, he was a gentle, college-educated man. Like my father, he didn't plan to make a lifelong career of being in the military, but war changed all that. 

In George's case, it was the Civil War:

George fought in 37 battles during his 21 years in the Army. His Civil War engagements included Bull Run, Antietam, and the lesser-known but hideously bloody Battle of the Wilderness. During one battle, he lost all but the thumb on his right hand. After that, he learned to write with his left hand. (You can see in this photo that his right hand is gloved and tucked into his jacket.)

George was a modest man. After some pressure from his brother (my Great-Grandpa Elisha), he wrote his memoirs, then tore them up because he felt it was being too boastful. So Elisha wrote George's exploits instead. When Elisha presented them to his brother, George protested, "I can't fancy seeing myself so conspicuous" and declared "I hesitate to touch it, even with a ten foot pole."

I'm glad Elisha wrote the story of his brother's service, because now we have it for posterity.

Thank you, old soldier. Rest in peace.

Another Graduation!

Two weeks ago, The Boy graduated from college. He's now touring through Europe with a few friends on a well-deserved break before he begins his job.

In the meantime, it's Lovely Daughter #1's turn. Last Saturday she received her M.D.!

She'll be working as an Emergency Room physician in New York City. She's really excited to begin her career and to live in the midst of Manhattan.

The Hubby and I will miss her, but we're so happy for her, too. Soon, we'll have two kids in Boston and one in The Big Apple.

I sense some plane trips in our future.