The joys of having cats who just have to be there, and participate in
everything that you do. Especially Rupert, who tends to like to settle
himself into every nook and cranny he can find. The linen closet again.
Pesky towels getting in his way.

And here we have the both of them. In the bathtub. Just as I'm ready
to wash my hair. Phoebe likes to play with the water from the tap,
while Rupert likes me to tease him with my towel, draping it over him
and tickling him. We have fun.

Today we were across the street in the afternoon attending a "somewhat
surprise" party for our friend Amy. Amy and her DH have been our
neighbours for about 12 years now, and we are so lucky to have them as
friends. They have five kids, ranging in age from 13 to 2. Their daughters
have been mentioned in previous posts, and are Laura, Hannah and Naomi.
Amy is a dynamo. She home schools all her kids!

Laura (aged 11) made most of the arrangements for the party, calling people

on Thursday and asking us to bring pot luck, and best wishes. Her DH got

Amy out of the house today by taking her to lunch, and then the guests
were free to arrive and set things up. Amy knew something was up, since
the kids and DH were busy the last few days picking up and cleaning
around the house, and the date was marked on the calender with "Top
Secret - Shhh" on it. But she was thrilled just the same when she walked
in the door and a crowd of friends were waiting to greet her.

The picture above is of me holding Naomi (5), my DH and Amy on the right.

My latest book finish. I don't buy Nora Roberts books until the
hard covers go on sale. I've got about a dozen of her books in
hard cover, and I've never paid full price for any of them. For
me she's the author whose books I read to sort of cleanse my
reading palate after finishing an intense, riveting and absorbing
book that I can't get out of my head. I don't know what I want
to read next, and I just want something to ease me on to my
next heavy read.

Which isn't to say that Nora Roberts doesn't write well. She's
actually very good, and brother is she prolific. I find she's very
good at creating vivid, multi dimensional characters, and
describing them so well that you have a clear picture of them in
your head. Sometimes it's hard to keep a large cast of characters
straight, but I never have that problem with her. Most often
she builds up the story in stages, allowing you time to experience
the lives of the main characters and get to know and care about
them. I like that.

Blue Smoke is a thriller/romance. I'm not going to write a
description of the story, because you can probably get a better
one off of the websites at Amazon or Chapters. I'll just say that
I liked this one very much, and may have to find another "light"
read to distract me from this one.

It's raining here today. It's cool and it began to rain in the early
afternoon, and is suppose to continue for much of the day. The
watering ban ended last week after we had rain last Sunday, and
now we're on odd/even days to water, depending on your house
number.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and compliments on
The Bookshelf. No up date picture today I'm afraid. I'm
stitching away on the last section, but want to get a bit more
done before posting a progress picture. It seems that this
piece has grabbed the imaginations of many of us who are
both rabid stitchers and readers.

And thanks for the comments about DH's car. A little something

for the menfolk to enjoy.