Saturday Revue

 Hello friends! Here it is Saturday afternoon already...and I'm just sitting down to write...and hopefully I can get this finished in time to start cooking supper! Actually, supper will be easy, because we picked up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store this morning, and had some delicious hot chicken breast with fresh slices of tomato and lettuce sandwiches for lunch...and there's plenty of meat left to make something good for supper. Haven't decided exactly what yet, but I'll let hubby help me decide when the time comes. LOL. That's one good thing about retirement and being just the two of us...meals can be very simple and casual if we want...and thankfully, hubby prefers that, so it makes things easy for me!

I mentioned stopping at the store this morning. That was after we went to the Deep Creek Trading Post Farmer's Market, where our son Benton had set up his booth to sell the above ground planters that he makes.

And I stepped across the way from him and purchased these vegetable plants to plant, and he has promised to build some planters for me to make this job easier on my poor body. LOL.   I bought 4 beefsteak tomato plants, six little pots of zucchini and six little pots of yellow (summer) squash plants. Those are the main vegetables that I find myself buying all summer (and beyond), so I decided to give growing them myself a try.  Since with his wonderful wooden planters I don't have to dig in the ground to plant them, hopefully they will actually grow and produce "fruit"...or vegetables...Tomatoes are a fruit, so they say, and the squash are definitely vegetables.   (Hubby is busily guarding my stash while I walk around. LOL). 

Speaking of hubby...I caught him having this conversation with Blackie on the front porch last night...He literally sat down on the steps to sit and visit with Blackie on "his level".  I was impressed...and amazed at this man who really didn't want us to get too involved with this outdoor neighborhood cat...

But who can resist that face? LOL.

Or his cuteness?

He's not too sure about Lily Grace and her dog Bailey...

Especially when he'd rather be left alone to sleep on the couch...

But yesterday was such a pretty day, I had to get outside and sit a spell in the "Secret /Memorial Garden", beside the Still Very Dry Still Waters Pond...

(Although we DID get a very nice rain shower the night before last...and I saw our first male Ruby Throated hummingbird, but he got away before I took this picture as I had not yet put out that feeder for him...so I immediately went and made some sugar water for him and put out the feeder so hopefully he will be back ...The males come first, and then soon after the females arrive...and it's interesting that they know exactly where to to come back to each year!)

The rain was falling so gently and it lasted a pretty good while, but alas, the pond was still dry when all was said and done...

But at least it's a start, and we are scheduled for more rain tomorrow and the next day...so please keep praying that we are finally getting into a rainy pattern again!

We read this passage in our devotions this morning, and these words gave me great hope...not just for our pond, but for life in general, especially in the current world situation...Although it was originally written for "Unrepentant Israel" some 750 years B.C., I believe we can learn from this today...and it does give me hope...

Hosea 6 NIV

1“Come, let us return to the Lord.

He has torn us to pieces

but He will heal us;

He has injured us

but He will bind up our wounds.

2 After two days He will revive us;

on the third day He will restore us,

that we may live in his presence.

3 Let us acknowledge the Lord;

let us press on to acknowledge him.

As surely as the sun rises,

He will appear;

He will come to us like the winter rains,

like the spring rains that water the earth.”

Anyway, I digress...back to the next day when the sun was shining, but it was much cooler as the rain had ushered in a bit of a cold front, which actually is quite nice! Blackie was enjoying watching the birds in the trees while I sat in the swing...

And then he decided to come and sit and swing with me, although I don't think he really liked the swinging part of it, so I tried to sit still. Didn't want to upset his tummy!

I was noticing how brown/auburn his coat is in the sunshine!  

It's as if he's a different color altogether when he's out in the sunshine...

Speaking of "Sunshine", our beautiful Orange cat who passed over the rainbow bridge back in November, and who was Blackie's bonded buddy...it made me wonder if perhaps Sunshine and Blackie were actually more closely related than just buddies?

Sweet Sunshine, R.I.P.

Best Buddies

It's really a strange kind of markings...maybe Sunshine was his daddy? I do think he was much older than Blackie...

So I looked up this color phenomenon online, and here's what "AI" has to say about it:

"A black cat with an orange or reddish undercoat is often a black "smoke" or "ghost" tabby, where the hair shaft is black at the tip but banded with orange or red near the skin, sometimes caused by sun bleaching ("rusting") or hidden tabby genetics. These cats often appear entirely black until sunlight or movement reveals the warm orange tones.
PetMD +4
Common Reasons for Orange/Red Undercoats:

Sun Rusting: Sunlight breaks down the black eumelanin pigment in the fur, revealing red/orange highlights (pheomelanin) underneath, especially in black cats that spend time in windows.

Smoke/Tabby Genetics: A "smoke" black cat has a white or silver undercoat, but if it carries hidden "red" (orange) tabby genes, it can produce a smoky-orange or black/red effect.

Torbie or Tortie Influence: A very dark tortoiseshell or "torbie" (tortoiseshell + tabby) may appear predominantly black, but has intense orange streaks or patches hidden throughout the coat.

Nutritional Factors: A deficiency in tyrosine, an amino acid, can cause black fur to turn a reddish-brown color, which some owners perceive as an orange undercoat, as discussed in.
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If the cat looks black but has reddish undertones in the light, it is most likely a "rusting" black cat or a black smoke cat with underlying red genes."

It doesn't really answer my question about whether or not Blackie and Sunshine could be related, but it's possible...whatever the reason, Blackie is still sweet and handsome, and Sunshine will always be missed by all of us.

Moving right along...The azaleas have been so pretty this year!

And I'm just going to keep "living life in full bloom" and enjoy the beauty of all of these things while I can! 

How about you?

Have a blessed and beautiful weekend my friends.