Are Black Kitties Good Luck?

A cooling trend has ensued in the beautiful central California farming area.  For the next ten days we won't see anything with a "9" in front of it.  I'm all for that.  In fact, I actually had to get up and find a blanket last night.  I scrounged around in the dark before throwing two pair of Levis on top of me since a blanket was elusive.

We were up early as usual.  Truly, if I slept in, I would think I lost half the day.  Though I seriously need to get back to quilting with the long arm, there was yet another accounting meeting.  But FIRST ... oh yeah ... tomato and cucumber breakfast.  If nothing else, I should be losing weight!!  

At least this time the tomatoes were the bigger, tastier ones from my friends garden.  I'm waiting for the WHAT CAN I DO WITH THESE phone calls I'm going to get in two weeks when hundreds of them ripen all at once.  I'll be prepared with your suggestions!

On to the meeting ... this time with a really nice commercial realtor (not mine) and the actual tax accountant.  Two hours later I was overwhelmed and regretting I signed on.  Too late now girlie!!  I'm hoping this has a happy ending.

With that finally over as I snuck out the door, I headed off to Smart and Final.  I finally got permission to serve Nachos at Elks Bingo.  We have a kitchen crew every week who serves up hamburgers, hotdogs and chicken tenders, but we are all getting pretty tired of the same ole same ole.  

The supposed "One In Charge" (who really isn't) who only wants to play Bingo, has refused to add anything to the menu that actually causes her one second of work.  How hard is this?  You order it from the Club Manager, you open the can and dump it into a crockpot.  Maybe opening the bag-o-chips is just too much.  

Next Tuesday .... NACHOS with jalapeños (which we already have) for $4.00.  By the way, all the kitchen money goes into our Building Fund for repairs.  It's going to take a lot of nachos to pay for that air conditioner we just had to replace!!

Back home to my boy Cooper, who always greets me like I've been gone for a year, we stashed ourselves on the couch for a little rodeo.  Since there's nothing better than snacking on cheesecake while you watch TV, I rounded up the supplies for mini lime pies.  

In the hopes of not killing my diet completely, I forgo the graham cracker crust and just dump the ingredients into these little containers.  Those get stashed in the freezer.  Any time I'm in desperate need of dessert, I bring one out and eat it frozen.  Perfect for those hot summer days.  And yes, that's yet ANOTHER bowl of tomatoes.  Thankfully they are finally slowing down the production.  In another week I think they will die a sad death, though I won't be crying.

There was more computer time before I finally yelled UNCLE.  Dinner for me was the last of the Mac n Cheese.  I'm glad that's gone now so I can get on to better things, like that leftover turkey lunch meat.  It's really a good thing I'm not trying to produce meals for anyone else!!

Oh but wait ... I actually AM.  Remember some time back I noticed a very skinny black kitty kitty in my back yard, so I got a bag of cat food?  Every night I put out half a cup, and every morning it's gone.  I used the game camera a couple of times, and sure enough, it was the black kitty.

On THIS day, she came early at 5:30 and jumped up on the bird bath where I feed her.  Rarely do I get to see her.  But WAIT!  What's that under the rose bush?  ANOTHER BLACK KITTY.  She sat quietly waiting for the other one to leave, which wasn't going to happen until all the food was gone.

I borrowed one of Jonathan's bowls (he won't mind) and very slowly, quietly, one step at a time NOT looking them in the eye (because they will run away) walked until I could set it on the grass.  The next breeze that came along wafted the smell her direction.  She made a beeline for the food.

So now I'm feeding TWO black kitties.  I'm sure there's good luck attached to them, yes?  They are so very skinny ... maybe they will even snag that gopher, the one that ate all my flowers and two squash plants.   Today I'll set up a buffet of some kind.  You can't leave food on the ground because of the ants.  

Which reminds me, I've discovered these ants have pretty much taken over my entire back yard.  Every time I walk out there, I get bit once or twice.  I'm calling a Pest Service to see if they can help.  I've tried lots of stuff to get rid of them, but most involve some kind of granule ... and I can't take a chance of Cooper accidentally eating something.  I'm hoping there's an alternative ... like electric shock!!!

The Good Lord willing, I'll be back here tomorrow.  Have a GREAT day!!