NIce day

Mornings are cool now, and the daily highs are in the seventies.  You just can't beat weather like that.  
My sister Maxine lives only forty miles away from me for six months of the year, so you'd think we'd see her quite a bit.  We don't, though, and I'm terrible at keeping in touch by telephone because I don't like talking on the phone.  
So last week I realized it's almost time for her to head to Mission, Texas, for the winter.  I think we've seen her once since she got back home.  
I know!  It's unforgivable, really.  And she's one of the sweetest people you'd ever meet.  
So I called her Friday and invited her out to dinner (the noon meal) today.  Cliff leaves for work at 2:30, but I figured this would give us some visiting time before and after the meal.  Sunday it occurred to me that my cousin Betty and her husband hadn't seen Maxine for a long time, so I invited them to dinner too.  
What a nice, laid-back time we had.  I fixed Tex-Mex chicken and rice, ratatouille, fried okra, and biscuits (made with self-rising flour and buttermilk, of course).  We had apple pie and ice cream for dessert.  I love having people over for dinner who appreciate the meal, and these guests did.  
Maxine admired the red hibiscus plant I started from seed that Betty gave me last fall, and I sent her the rest of the seeds; I'd kept them all this time in a sealed baggie.  I won't need them any more, now that I have a plant going strong. 
Now I'm asking myself, "Why did I wait so long to have these folks over for a meal?"

My cousin's cathouse

Cliff found some items on Craigslist that he really wanted. Turns out that when he called the phone number listed, it was my cousin Betty's husband.

We're so happy with the two items we bought; I'll do an entry about those at another time. Let me just say that Cliff is doing a happy dance, and feels like Christmas arrived early this year.

So while the men were chatting, Betty and I had a seat in Russ's shop and had a nice discussion.

Suddenly, a cat jumped up on my lap as though it owned me. And then another one.

"Betty, get my purse," I said. "There's a camera in there, and I want you to take my picture with these cats."

Then I had her hand the camera to me, and I took pictures. I'm not a big fan of tame cats, but I have to admit this cat face is totally beautiful; look at those eyes.

Then a third cat jumped onto my lap. Whoa!

So of course, I had Betty take another picture of me, with three cats on my lap. And they stayed right there until I got up to go home.

Wonderful Sunday

After a lovely day of motorcycle riding, Cliff and I arrived home to find our son-in-law, Kevin, barbecuing in front of Cliff's shop this evening. How cool is that?

Nobody does a barbecue better than Kevin.

That's Rachel bringing the baked beans from the house. And Natalie with her bike.

Brett's waiting patiently. Oh yeah, I made a dump-cake for dessert before I fled on the Gold Wing with Cliff this morning.

Monica in the tree, Natalie on the ground.

My cousin Betty and her husband, Russ, arrived in time to share our supper. In fact, they got here shortly after Cliff and I arrived.