Feline and Furball Friday -- Stevie getting warm

It's time for Steven's (sometimes)photoblog to sponsor Feline and Furball Friday. Today my picture is of Stevie, getting warm in front of the propane furnace in my dining room. It is quite obvious that she doesn't have a tail. She isn't a manx cat; she lost it due to an industrial accident at my shop when she was about 6 months old. It's lack prevents her from doing some of the jumping that the other cats do but mostly she does pretty well without it. (A cat's tail aids in it's balance, so she is without the ability to jump up on high places.) She loves to lie where it's warm or soft. She also appears to be a bit chubby but I don't know if that's because of all her fur or not. She doesn't run around and exercise a lot. She's a sweet cat and although not friendly to the other two (she acts like she's "Queen of the House"), she has her moments of being very lovey with me. At 13 1/2 years old, she's not a young kitty and I don't know how long she has, although indoor cats live longer than outdoor ones. I hope it will be a few more good years!

To see more furry and sometimes feathery creatures, go to Steven's blog (linked in the first sentence) and you will find links to other blogging participants, both in the blog itself, for the week before, and the comments, for the current week. Join in and play if you have critters to share! It's fun!

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot -- Rocks and Stones

Carly of the blog Ellipsis has assigned us the task of photographing "rocks and stones" this week (in Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #22, BTW) -- and it can be any derivation of the words, such as Rock and Roll or The Rolling Stones. As usual, I am taking things literally. ;-) I knew I had the cat-painted rock that daughter-in-law Steph gave me at one point, which is a nice paperweight but I am not using it as such at the moment, as I found it this morning on my dresser in my bedroom. I think it is really cute and clever so I'm just keeping it around as a decorative item. The other rocks I am featuring are necklace pendants, made from malachite, which I find to be very pretty. I especially wear the larger pendant upon occasion.

To learn more about rocks and stones that bloggers participating in this meme have, go to the link to Carly's blog in the first sentence and you will find links to them in the commments section, as well as links to last week's participants in her blog post. It is always fun to participate, as well as see what the other bloggers have come up with!

Round Robin Photo Challenge -- Not of This Season

This time the Round Robin Photo Challenge theme is "Not of This Season." My choices were the above picture of a rose in my rose bed coming into bloom in the summer, a year or two ago, and a picture of the D Sands beach in Lincoln City at the Oregon Coast, also in a summer several years ago. It is nice to have this Challenge in which to remember those summer days and get a reminder that the cold will soon be gone and we will have warm days again (maybe too warm?). ;-) To see other entries in this challenge, go to the link in the first sentence and there you will find links to other bloggers who are participating. If you want to join in, you will find directions there, too!

Feline and Furball Friday -- Socksie looking out the window

Steven at (sometimes)photoblog wants to see our pet critter pictures (they can have feathers, too) on Fridays, and mine this week is of Socksie looking out the kitchen window. It is a very interesting spot for her because there are birds flitting around in the bushes outside the window. She will sit there for a long time when she gets in the mood to get up by the sink and peruse the outer kingdom.

Go by Steven's blog at the link in the first sentence to see past and present Feline and Furball Friday blog posters. Feel free to join in!

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #21 -- Youngins

I have been lucky enough to have plenty of pictures of youngins, especially sibling youngins, which Carly at Ellipsis said would be our extra credit this time around in the Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot. The two top pictures are of 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter Emily and then of her 6-year-old brother, Noah. Noah was flying the plane and making airplane noises. I have cheated a bit and added school pictures of my other grandsons, also siblings -- Michael, soon to be 10, and his brother, Alex, who just turned 8.

For links to last week's participants and to find this week's players along with links to their blogs in the comments of Ellipsis, go to the link I have included in the first sentence.

Feline and Furball Friday -- Stevie the bathroom catloaf

Last week for Feline and Furball Friday, I talked about my kitty Silver being in the catloaf position -- looking like a meatloaf with a head. This week it is Stevie's turn, and she likes to do this in the bathroom, on the bath rug. She's either chubby or furry or both and so looks quite rotund while she is catloafing. ;-)

To participate in Feline and Furball Friday, go to Steven's (sometimes)photoblog later on today for links to last week's participating blogs and this week's bloggers, who will post their links in the comments. It's lots of fun!

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #20 -- Snack Time!

Carly of the blog Ellipsis has assigned Monday Photo Shoot participants the subject "Snack Time!" to photograph and talk about. This is a new favorite snack of mine, discovered on New Year's Eve day when I was shopping and found a small package of snack size Tillamook black pepper white cheddar cheese that looked good. I thought it would be excellent with garlic roasted Triscuit crackers and so I picked some of them up, too. I eat a cheese slice sandwiched in between two crackers and it is delicious! Here I have a plate full of cheese slices (my last ones) and crackers, which I will snack on this afternoon.

A later addition (because it was a later snack), diabetic cocoa and toast:

















To make the diabetic cocoa, I used the recipe for individual microwave cocoa on the Hershey's cocoa can but substituted 5 packets of Equal for the sugar. I spritzed whipped cream from a can on top. Yum!

For extra credit, we were to show our favorite dish, bowl or tray to serve the snack on, and I have the cheese and crackers on one of my favorites -- a dessert dish that goes with my tea rose stoneware from Pfaltzgraff. I love the flowers on it and the scallops around the edge.

If you would like to participate, go to Carly's site, which I linked in the first sentence, and get into the game! It's a lot of fun!