Barking Up The Wrong Tree

All of my cats are pretty well-behaved, as cats go. They are "trainable". Actually they have trained me to accept whatever they do as correct behavior. They don't poo in the potted plants, they don't fight with eachother (much), they don't howl at all hours of the night (although I love the sound of their voices anytime). They pretty much stay within the boundaries of the yard and the designated areas of the back field. I've lost too many beloved cats on this street. There isn't much traffic here but the dozen or so cars that do go by each day seem to think this is a drag strip designed to test the speedometer capacity of their vehicles. Of all the cats my one and only orange kitty (first ever orange kitty too) Carmella tests the limits of the boundaries most frequently. There are times when I call and call for her; rattle the cat food tin and no response for nearly an hour. Just where is it that she's getting too? Not the barn or the shed. Not under the car or the patio chairs. Not in the field or God forbid, in the street. Here she is. This seems to be her new hang-out. The oldest, largest tree in the yard. Conveniently located next to a prime bird feeder for an excellent view of the "catch". Elliot takes a less subtle approach.

Well, I haven't been barking up the cross-stitch tree much either! Still obsessed with socks. Round and round I go and my next start will be pair #20

Two weeks ago I was glued to the computer following the Gymnastics European Championships. I was quite pleased with the results, especially of these two cute little Russians from the Junior squad. Anastasia Grishina and Viktoria Komova. I remember seeing Viktoria's mother compete back in the day..........1983 USA vs. USSR competition. Here is my near-finish of my latest gymnastics design, Grishina in a split leap during her Floor Exercise routine. She won a gold medal on this event at Europeans. Next up is British Champion Beth Tweddle.

The sun is shining and it's nearly 80 degrees F. The storms are rolling in though, so it's outside for a few more hours of stitching or knitting or just watching the cats lounge around.