Horse Racing and a Missing Kitten

It's a beautiful day outside - and I have my patio door wide open, as well as the patio window.  Birds are singing, squirrels are chasing one another, Lovey is curled up on the top of the cat tree in the sun, and Nedi is sprawled on the patio, soaking up fresh air and all the activity around him.  I was very sorry to see a notice in the apartment building stating that the grey marmalade tabby kitten I call Simon is missing.  He's about 5 months old now, and the owners have not had him neutered, and have allowed him to roam.  There are so many possible bad outcomes....  I hope someone took him in and has given him a wonderful home, including neutering, shots, and lots of love and toys.
   Besides doing all of my usual morning chores with my kits and the apartment, I've visited and cared for Jasmine this morning, and I've stopped by Lynn's house to water her garden and walk Tess.  I can't figure out why Lynn always puts seed down and then goes away on travels, leaving the garden care to me, on a daily basis...  At least Martine takes care of the garden and yard on Friday.  And I'll pick Lynn up at the airport tonight when she returns from California.  Between then and now, I'll visit both Jasmine and Lynn's house again, continue in my Spring cleaning of the apartment, and, probably, do some more Busey family research...  They are fascinating relatives.
   Four major horse races took place yesterday - two in Meydan, the Dubai Gold Cup and the Dubai World Cup; and the two Derbies I mentioned yesterday.  The Dubai Gold Cup had a purse of $1 million; the winner was Brown Panther, followed by Star Empire, and Ahzeemah  ran third.  In the $10 million Dubai World Cup, the winner was Prince Bishop, with California Chrome running in second, and Lea finishing third.  California Chrome's connections have decided to ship the 4-year-old from Dubai to Royal Ascot in England.  Which race he'll enter has not yet been decided.
   In the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, Materiality continued his winning ways, as the son of Afleet Alex was expected to do.  Upstart, a son of Flatter ran second, and another Flatter son, Ami's Flatter, ran in third.  In the Louisiana Derby at the Fairgrounds, the son of Fusaichi Pegasus, International Star, won impressively for the Ramsey family.  Stanford finished a game second, with War Story four lengths behind him.  Things are gearing up for the first Saturday in May....

Yum! Raspberries

I have to admit that I used Rosie's Xfinity On Demand and caught up on several television series yesterday...  Had a great brunch at Turley's, and Bea and I were lucky to get seated with one of our three favorite wait-persons there.  I admit, also, that I indulged myself at brunch, getting one of the huge, fresh, buttermilk biscuits instead of toast (or my favorite, a raspberry muffin).  They have been serving carrot, banana, and pumpkin muffins recently, instead of the raspberry ones.  Of course, I've been able to "cheat" in getting my raspberries - Kathy and Jim's patch are still producing like mad, and I usually grab between a half- to a full cup, fresh off the bush every morning.  I also nibbled on the ones in Tessa's garden while I was there - they are growing a combination of both golden and red raspberries.  I spent most of yesterday taking the dogs back and forth between homes - Tessa over to Rosie's, and Rosie's back to Tessa's.  Lynn returned home at 4 in the afternoon.
   It's grey and cloudy this morning - we're expecting a high of 61, with rain mixed with snow in the evening.  The local news channels are full of film showing the snow falling up in the mountains. Thankfully, the Broncos have an 11 a.m. kick-off today in New Jersey against the Jets.  The last couple of weekends have seen a lot of upsets in college football - and I must admit that, while I was rooting 100% for the Gators yesterday, I had a feeling that LSU would prevail (which they did).  I think my biggest shock yesterday was the Georgia Bulldogs winning and not allowing the Missouri Tigers on the scoreboard.
   Rosie and I spent a quiet night, and I'm currently home with my kits.  Nedi is outside communing with nature, but Lovey is curled up on the sofa.  I have fed and loved them, cleaned their potty boxes, washed water bowls and given fresh water.  Both have spent time in my lap, and have been hugged, kissed, groomed, and made much over.  They are the best kits in the world!

Three Twisters in Thirty Minutes!

Yesterday was quiet - bright and sunny in the morning, cloudy and cool in the afternoon, with thunder rumbles and light rain in the evening. I would have liked to have seen the Olympics closing ceremony, but Hila's house has no TV and no radio, so I read, as usual. When I returned to my apartment this morning, I found that there had been 3 tornadoes within 30 minutes near Denver - luckily, none caused damage. And when I looked out on my patio this morning, I had to laugh - my neighbor had lined up a dead mouse and a rather tattered dead sparrow on the outer edge of the patio. Her note the other day blamed me for the deaths of any and all critters near my apartment - because I feed the critters.

The hens have laid 4 or 5 eggs for me each day, and I harvested in the gardens yesterday afternoon - tomatoes, cucumbers, 5 kinds of squash, Swiss chard, and, being allergic to them, I did NOT touch the huge red onions that look ripe for pulling. The canatloupe need about 2 more weeks on the vine, but the squash plants are blooming again, and we should get a double harvest of them. The cherry and Roma tomatoes are over-producing themselves - and one can gather almost a quart a day from them.

The Democratic National Convention begins today in Denver. When it was first announced that local people could get a ticket to see Obama's acceptance speech, I toyed with the idea - but my dislike of crowds convinced me not to go - along with the fact that when I went to sign up for the ticket, 5 hours after it was announced, all 50,000 had already gone and I was the 28,657th on the waiting list for cancellations. In a way, I really want to be there for the history, and at the same time, I know I'll get a better view, hear the speeches much more clearly, and be more at ease if I watch from home. And - it's pretty well accepted that if you're below the 5,000 number on the waiting list, that you might as well go whistle in the wind.

I'll be home after tonight for about a week - I can sleep in my bed and schmooze with the kits... then I'll be off with Spike for awhile in Niwot. I will correct the Nocks family tree on-line this week and start putting up the Devine-Boyer and the Lancaster family trees; as well as mailing out (finally!) the Martin and O'Neil family trees to Idaho.