Bread production is back in business! I think, with my current kitchen setup (no counters) and equipment (two large glass bowls and a variety of loaf pans), the most bread I could make in a day (when better rested than I am) is about 16 or so. If I had proper kitchen counters, more or larger bowls, and places to let bread cool that were cat free, I could probably make more than that. It’s going pretty quickly, once I get into the rhythm of it.

The initial 6 loaves are in the Box Room cooling, because they were still too warm and moist to wrap in plastic … and that’s the only cat-free place 6 loaves are guaranteed to go unmolested. It’s also the coldest room in the house. Almost as cold as it is outside right now. Should cool quickly in there! I need to get those cooled and packaged, because there are about to be 6 more loaves to do the same with! Even the Box Room doesn’t have enough flat space for 12 loaves of bread.

The kitchen will be a wreck once I am done, but I’m not going to even think about it until Saturday afternoon when I crawl out of bed. Though there aren’t going to be many dishes to wash, seeing as I am tossing the foil pans when done with them and I only have the two large glass bowls and a couple of utensils. Maybe I can at least deal with those before bed tonight. The flour coating everything will have to wait. I do not feel like wiping down everything and doing the floors on Xmas Eve.

The cats have been out of their minds all afternoon. They worked themselves into a total frenzy earlier and started fighting, and then … the puking began. Yes, that is just what I need while trying to bake bread. Cats puking all over the house! They seem to be settling down now and heading to the bedroom for their usual afternoon nap. Thank goodness, because all three of them have been unbearable today. The outdoor wild cats aren’t being much better either, as they are at the front door whining to be let in, which can’t happen. I have enough mayhem on my plate today. I do feel sorry for them being out in the cold wind, but they know how to get under the house, and it’s plenty warm under there, especially in the kitchen and laundry room areas. Just ask the resident possum!

Time to go poke the loaves rising in the pans and start on the next batch! Then the dip bowl and dip!

I think I could bake bread like this every day and never get grumpy about it. I love baking bread. So relaxing. The perfect thing to do before a stressful family Xmas trip!

A few days ago, since it was warmish in the house, I left the bathroom door open while I took a shower. I guess it was the first time Tora had seen me get into the “water box”, and she sat in the doorway staring at me with a look of horror and squeaking in dismay.

Today it was not so warm in the house, so I pushed the door closed, but left it so any cat that wanted to could come in to use the facilities or hover in front of the shower while I bathed (as Myu likes to do). No cat came in, but I did hear the occasional squeak from the hallway indicating that Tora was sitting just outside the door.

After I dried off a bit, I opened the door, and you’d have thought Tora’s little world was ending! She was following me around –squeaking loudly– and rubbing against me and wanting in my lap. I guess she thought I’d just been tortured and needed consoling. Now she isn’t letting me out of her sight, and when I do go outside –as I just did to take out the trash– she is in a total state of panic when I come back in a few minutes later. Serious separation anxiety!

Tora continues to be the sweetest and most wonderful of the three cats, though I think her sweetness must be rubbing off on the other two. Myu is becoming something of a lap cat, and even grumpy Ronin is begging for love and attention from time to time. Eventually we may have three sweet and wonderful cats. I can only hope!

And since I haven’t been posting enough kitty photos lately –the cats generally being opposed to cameras these days– here’s a quick web cam snap of precious Tora.

I have to tell you though, while being followed around by an adorable cat is great, the nonstop squeaking is beginning to grate of my nerves. I wish she’d squeak when I am taking video of her, but no … then she doesn’t make a sound. Someday, you simply have to hear how squeaky and cute her vocalizations are!

Meet Grumpy. He’s a new outdoor cat we seem to have acquired. He’s even wilder than Sasha! I had to use the zoom to get this photo and was surprised he sat there long enough for me to click the shutter. He usually flies away at top speed to parts unknown as soon as someone opens the door and steps out on the porch.

My intention this morning was to sleep in. Not a lot, just a couple hours beyond sunrise. Getting to sleep in beyond sunrise in this household is a wonderful and blessed event. So I toddled off to bed well before midnight, pleased to be looking forward to an actual full night’s sleep. Alas, whatever my intentions had been, the cats had other ideas.

At 7 am, I was awakened by the shrieks of Myu being attacked by Ronin a mere couple of feet from my head. Unlike my alarm clock, fighting cats do not have a snooze button. After such an adrenalin-pumping arousal, there was no going back to sleep either, so I stumbled into the kitchen and made coffee, and then stomped into the living room to gripe to Lin about Ronin being an ass. One by one, each cat came up and licked my hand, and then put on their “Aren’t We Adorable” faces. Grrrr. They know being cute gets them out of trouble. I’m such a sucker for The Cute.

Naturally, I fed them, which is what all the ruckus this morning was about anyway. I wasn’t awake and tending to their every early morning need. They were dying of starvation! Wasting away! Daddy wasn’t feeding them, and I was their only hope! Uh huh. All three of these monsters could live off their fat reserves for at least a week without harm. As per usual, they each ate two bites of food –oh yes, they were SO hungry– and then they tore around the house for about an hour.

Now they are all passed out and sleeping contentedly on the bed. I do believe I will go pester the living daylights out of them as soon as I finish this cup of coffee. If I don’t get to sleep in … no one does!

I hadn’t realized how much Tora has grown the last couple of months, but look at her! She’s almost full-grown cat-sized! And she’s still the sweetest and most wonderful cat in the household. We hope that continues, because it offsets the total terrors the other two usually are.

And yes, I am intentionally cropped out of this photo, because a) I am having a bad hair day and b) I had a maniacal look on my face most likely caused by a day spent torturing fire ants to death.

Ronin almost never gets on my desk to pester me, but I’ve posted photos of the other two undergoing corporal cuddling for being pests, and fair is fair. He needed to have his photo posted too! So I grabbed him and snapped one. He was not happy.

Myu will not leave me alone for a minute! ARGH!

Tora has been pestering me non-stop for 30 minutes, so the last time she decided to stand between my monitor and my face, I decided she needed to have her picture taken. Notice she doesn’t look pleased? She’s ceased pestering me, so I guess my cat annoyance tactic has worked!

The cats are all being entirely too cute and adorable this morning. I suspect there is an evil cat plan afoot. They are never this pleasant first thing in the morning, and they certainly don’t tend to be totally adorable so early in the day when the food and water bowls are full and the litter box has been scooped. I mean … they don’t require my services at the moment, so why all the kitty love being directed at me? I wonder what they have planned?

There are also no cats sitting in the open kitchen window this morning. None of them even want to go near the kitchen window. I imagine they are concerned there will be another large dog jumping at the window, and I’m sure they would rather not repeat that experience. It sort of sad, because all three of them love sitting in that window and watching the world outside. They even get grumpy if I don’t open the window in the morning when I get up, no matter the weather. I hope they get over it soon and get back to sitting in the window in the morning. I missed watching them tussle over who gets the prime windowsill location while I was making the morning coffee.

I didn’t get much, if any, real sleep last night, but I have something of a busy day ahead. I have to run to the store for fire ant poison, milk, and some sort of insta-food (in case I don’t feel like cooking one night), and then I’ll be killing fire ants while simultaneously making bread with that new flour. I keep putting it off for fear of total bread failure, but we are now out of bread, so I have to make some. If I don’t use the new flour, Lin will give me grief about it, and I don’t need any more grief in my life.

Before any of that happens, I have to call Mom. She hasn’t called with any news about the biopsy they did on her silly little dog on Monday, and I want to know why I haven’t heard anything yet. How long does it take her vet to get testing done on stuff? Seems like a long time, and I am sure Mom hasn’t called them to ask, because I know she doesn’t want to hear any bad news. Still, if it’s cancer, it’s best to move quickly, so if they haven’t called her, she needs to call them and find out what’s up.

But first, a nice steaming cup of coffee. I suspect it won’t be the last one of the day either.

Today has begun with some excitement. As per the standard daily routine, I stumbled blurry-eyed to the kitchen to make coffee, and while the first cup was hissing its way to morning caffeine perfection, I opened the kitchen window for the cats who all eagerly jumped up onto the window sill and nearby stool to gaze into the darkness of the back yard.

Once all the necessary coffee was brewed, I turned on the morning weather reports and made my way to the den to fire up the computer to read the news. So far, so good. The day was proceeding in the usual slow way mornings usually do.

But then … a loud ruckus from the kitchen! Hissing, spitting and cats scattering in all directions at full speed!

I rush to the kitchen, cursing the cats as I go, and flip on the kitchen light. Nothing seems amiss, other than the complete absence of cats in the kitchen and a snuffling sound coming from the other side of the open kitchen window. I stick my nose to the screen, but not being in possession of in-the-dark-seeing cat eyes, I see nothing. I do continue to hear snuffling, sniffing, and the sounds of something larger stomping around near the window. Whatever it is, it’s bigger than a possum and noisier too.

Slipping on some nearby shoes, I step out into the dark laundry room and flip the switch for the outdoor light. I flip it a few times, but no light comes forth. Naturally, the first time in ages I have needed the outdoor light to function, and the bulb has apparently burnt out. I bravely open the back door a crack, and in the dim beginnings of sunrise, I can clearly see the outline of a large black dog. It’s one of the Latino’s dogs. I very quickly close the door.

I retrieve a new light bulb from beneath the kitchen sink and return to the den. I pull the cord for the laundry room light, and once again, no light comes forth. This is no surprise, because the laundry room is cursed, and as far as I am concerned is the portal to hell. Once again, I bravely open the back door a crack and attempt to change the light bulb on the back door light.

Nothing is ever easy in my life, so of course I have trouble getting the new bulb to screw in properly. Meanwhile, I notice the large black dog’s counterpart –a large orange and white dog– is also in my back yard. I notice this because both of them are licking my bare legs. At least they weren’t eating me … only tasting me. I eventually get the bulb into the socket, flip the switch so I can see the two tail-wagging pit bulls more clearly, and step back into the laundry room. The dogs stare at me from the other side of the glass window in the door, seemingly sad I didn’t stick around for more leg licking.

The household cat collective, as you may well imagine, is not happy. The only dog experience they have is with a dog small enough for any one of them to eat for breakfast, so a large dog jumping at them as they sit in the kitchen window waiting for sunrise was a bit of a jolt to their delicate sensibilities.

Myu is glued to me and well within what we call Momma’s Smacking Perimeter, which is the distance I can smack other cats on the butt when they are harassing the poor dear. Whenever she feels threatened or scared, she can be found somewhere within that safe zone. She’s also mewing loudly and demanding belly rubs, which she is receiving aplenty.

Big, strong, and overly aggressive Ronin is doing exactly what bullies do when they get frightened by something that could kick their butts. He’s slinking from dark corner to dark corner with his ears back, his tail between his legs, and his eyes bugging out of his head. I imagine he’ll find some cozy and safe location for a nap soon, and I won’t be seeing him until his tummy rumbles for lunch.

I have no idea where Tora is. If I had to guess, she’s cowering in the deep recesses of the bedroom closet or under Lin’s workbench in the den. Or maybe she’s found a new hiding place. I do know it’s very likely she was the one sitting directly in the window when the large black dog made his appearance, and therefore, she’s probably the most freaked out. If I haven’t seen or heard from her in another few minutes, I will go on a cat-finding expedition. If I fail to locate her, I’ll just open the door to the Box Room. Nothing attracts the collective of cats like the creak of the Box Room door … the only room in the house into which they are not allowed.

Thus has this Thursday begun with a bit of excitement! As soon as there’s enough light outside, I will be tromping through the muddy yard to the garden to check for dog damage. There better not be any. While I am not 100% thrilled about the neighbor’s pitbulls being in my yard, the ones they have now don’t seem to be as mean and aggressive as the ones they had when we moved in 6 years ago, and there really isn’t anything any of us can do about the dogs getting over the fence. They have two large dogs (and a collective of chihuahuas) and we have a 3 foot tall fence that’s really more of a token property line marker than a security feature. The only thing it successfully keeps out of the yard are the aforementioned chihuahuas. Neither they nor I have the money to replace the fence, so we’re all just going to have to get along with what we have.

Unless there’s dog damage in the garden, in which case something will have to be done. One of the things that would have to be done is having a talk with the Latinos. They are sweet people, but all the same, if I need to have a conversation with them about their dogs jumping the fence and digging in my garden, I will be pushing that task off on Lin. They are very Latino in culture, so it won’t be odd from their point of view for him to be doing the talking for me, and well, his Spanish is better than mine as well. Hopefully, there won’t be any need to do any talking about damaged gardens, and we can all go back to ignoring the wimpy little fence until the next time the dogs jump over it.

If this starts to become a regular habit though, something will have to be done … something more than just talking about it. Dogs generally don’t make me nervous, but when we first moved into the house, we had aggressive pit bulls on one side of us and aggressive and deaf pit bulls on the other side of us, and I’ve gotten a wee bit jumpy about large aggressive dogs that are capable of jumping 3 foot tall fences. Sure, they were both wagging their tails and licking me this morning, but I don’t know those dogs, and so they do make me a little skittish (which is the worst thing to be when around unknown dogs).

The sun is almost up. I think I’ll slam what’s left of my free trade, single source, Tierra del Sol coffee with Parisian almond creamer and go check my poor waterlogged and sunshine-starved plants for dog damage. Then I’ll go find Tora. I suspect she may need some belly rubs and loving attention after this very exciting morning. I know I do!