. . . and furthermore, I didn’t see the point of ruining it on top of getting smells all over it. I worked so hard to get rid of those and it smelled sooo good. Then, she just had to barf on it. So, no, Mom, I am not happy. I am not going to be happy. Don’t look for anything resembling happy anytime soon.
Apparently, that new box was a hit with someone but it wasn’t with Viola.
This morning, Dad sat on the couch with the gingers – Pia and Quint. This seems to be normal around here for a Monday morning as Mom discovered on her very first paid day off from work. Apparently, it takes a l-o-n-g time to accrue enough hours to make a single vacation day. Remembering last March when she went without pay for two of our extra-icy weather days when she couldn’t get to work, she hadn’t taken any time off since. This winter wasn’t as bad and she didn’t miss any work days. She’s happy to report she has over a week’s worth of vacation time built up even after taking today off and doesn’t see any reason to take anymore time off this year. Our Mom’s a saver that way.
Which all meant Mom had time today to spent with Pia and Quint . . .
. . . except after peppering Dad with all kinds of important morning questions like, “Why is Mom home?” and “We’re not deviating from our routine here, are we, Dad?” and “You’re going to pet me first like usual, right?” the gingers stuck to their routine of napping the entire morning and early afternoon away. Forgotten Mom sniffled a bit over being forgotten and lost herself in starting her annual backyard spring clean up. And then she made blueberry muffins from scratch while Tessa watched.
Makes 6 jumbo muffins or a dozen small muffins also known here as “Why would you make anything that small?”
1 3/4 cups sifted flour
1/4 cup minus 1 Tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen – thaw in microwave for 1 minute
1 well-beaten egg
3/4 cup milk or substitute water if you’re not a milk person like Mom
1/3 cup salad oil or olive oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon lemon flavoring or juice (optional but tasty)
Pam or cooking spray
Mix dry ingredients together very well in bowl. No one wants to bite into a chunk of baking powder (ask us how we know). Add blueberries and stir to coat each with dry ingredients. In separate bowl, beat together milk/water, oil, and flavorings and add to dry ingredients until dry ingredients are just moistened. Try not to smash the blueberries.
Add muffin papers to muffin pan and lightly spray bottom of papers with cooking spray. Fill each muffin paper with same amount of batter using all the batter evenly.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Insert toothpick in center to test for doneness. A dry toothpick means the muffins are done. Do not use toothpick more than once. No fair licking the toothpick to use it again. Tessa, we’re looking at you.
Editor’s Note: Viola specifically asked not to be included in today’s post as she was trying out a new box placed elsewhere. If only she knew the kind of trouble Tessa was looking to create . . .
25 years ago, we had a whole different set of Colehaus Cats here at Colehaus. We never even thought of blogging about them back then. They were simply cats, our cats, and we loved them fiercely. Most were found rescues except for Crits who was the only store-bought cat, and you better believe she knew it. Cameron was a feral of a feral mom who was trapped, spayed, and re-released across town. Big orange Ian was found with his littermates in a field in a different part of town. White Skitters was nailed shut in a cat-hater’s attic space and rescued in the nick of time. G.B. a.k.a. Geebs and ginger sister Zooot came from a coworker who couldn’t/wouldn’t hand raise abandoned newborns.
From lower left corner moving upward: Crits in the round bed grooming gray Cameron, Big orange boy Ian, white-fur Skitters, G.B. tucked in the upper corner, and ginger and white sister Zooot guarding a favorite blanket. Amazingly enough, every one got along with everyone else and the worst that would happen would be a glare from Crits, the Queen who was not amused by anything. Here are our favorite photos of each:
