LONG HOLIDAY--by Momcat

St. Felinus dressed for the holiday

Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday. Did you remember to put your flag out? We discovered that the bracket the pole goes into was broken and the flag wouldn't stay attached to the front porch post.....have to get another bracket.

As you can see, St. Felinus got dressed up for the occasion. We didn't go to any of the parades around the area as it was too hot and muggy. And then the storms rolled in and rolled in and rolled in. But they did bring a little cooler weather. Grateful for that!

But so much for yard work! Not much has gotten done and today is my last "free" day and then it's back to work tomorrow! In between the rain I was able to run out and do a little in one spot and then run in the house when the rain came down. I'd do a couple of things inside the house and then run out when the rain stopped and do a little more out there. Yikes! What a way to work.

Then yesterday when the storm came through, it brought a little hail with it. Mostly pea-sized hail and not a lot of it, thankgoodness. We had a hail storm one year that shredded all the plants and stripped the trees of most of their leaves. Hope we don't have that again.

Between running out to work in the yard and the storms, we were unable to do a post here, so I thought today would be a good time to try and catch up a little.

One of the nature moments over this weekend was seeing a Baltimore oriole in the front yard tree. We've had several Cardinals visiting the birdbath and it's been a task to keep fresh water in it for them.

One of our dear little squirrels was killed out front too the other day. The people across the street had named her Molly. So, Molly was laid to rest at the edge of the berm. Molly was very friendly too and she would practically come right up to you. We will miss her....

Elmo is looking really shaggy and I should call the ladies (groomer) and see if they might be able to get him in and make him look like the bodacious doggy dude he is under all that hair!

ELMO'S FOOD FACTS---By Elmo!

"Pizza is great food!"

I made this discovery shortly after coming to Tabby Abbey. We have pizza here at least once every couple of weeks. Some people make Friday night their pizza night every week. I guess that's why there's so many pizza restaurants and chain stores.

As many pizza places as there are, so are there types of pizzas. Pepperoni is America's favorite topping, although I don't personally care for it. I like the sausage myself, lots of cheese please! Pizza makers have tried every type of food on their pizza, included peanut butter and jelly! Yuck!

Anchovies rank last!

International toppings are pickled ginger, minced mutton (EWWW!) and even tofu in India. Or how about squid and mayonnaise, potato and bacon in Japan. Or how about green peas in Brazil.

In Russia pizza is topped with sardines, tuna, mackerel, salmon and onions!

France has a combo called Flambee with bacon, onion and fresh cream.

In the US there are approximately 61, 269 pizza places in business. That's a lot of pizza! So it's easy to see how Americans eat 350 slices per second! That works out to something like each man, woman and child in America eating an average of 46 slices (or 23 pounds) of pizza a year!

Where did it all start? According to what I've read, this craze began in 1830 with the opening of the world's first pizzaria, Port' Alba, where the pizzas were cooked in an oven lined with lava from Mount Vesuvius, the volcano located on the Bay of Naples.

Thursday has become pizza night at Tabby Abbey.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY---by Chloe & Digger

Yes, yes, here it is Mother's Day and that has a special meaning for all of us furry children here at Tabby Abbey. If it wasn't for our mom, goodness knows where we'd all be. Or if we'd even BE at all!

We've all talked amongst ourselves when mom is at work, sharing our various stories of how we came to Tabby Abbey, and we know that mom "saved" all of us and has given us a forever home here.

For myself, I'm sure I would have met my end that night, if mom had not taken me from that dreadful man. It was so comforting when she held me and told me I was a beautiful bunny and that I wasn't going to be given to the two dogs. It was reassuring and I didn't want her to let go of me even though I wasn't used to being held or touched.

Chloe had a home, but no one cared about her and her future was very uncertain because the people were selling their house and didn't want her and didn't know what to do with her. Usually that means the end.

Elmo came to Tabby Abbey on a Christmas Eve day many years ago. He'd been wandering for some time in all weathers and happened through the yard here when mom saw him out the window in the snow. No one claimed him and he became a permanent resident.

The kitties are a collection of feral ones and castoffs that found their way to a forever home as well. We are all here because our mom loves us and wants only the best for us and she works very hard to provide for us.

So, to mom we say "thank you" and we love you.

WHAM! ELMO LE GASSY COOKS---FOR MAY

"It's fun to bake cookies!"

Hi, Elmo here with a nice Cookie recipe for you. We've been in the mood to do some baking and cookies seemed like a good choice.

So, here we go!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1-3/4 cups all purpose flour

1-teaspoon baking soda

1/2-teaspoon salt

1-1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1-cup granulated sugar

2-large eggs

2-tablespoons milk

2-teaspoons vanilla

2-cups Nestle Chocolate Chips

2-1/2 cups oatmeal

1-cup nuts

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Beat brown sugar, butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl until creamy.

Beat in eggs, milk, vanilla.

Beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 375 degrees 9-10 minutes for chewy cookies and 12-13 minutes for crispy cookies

Enjoy!

A TIME TO SEW

The little project to make pillows for the front porch chairs is moving right along. I have one pillow made and the other one in the fabric shown is on the to-do list.

This fabric goes well with all the chair colors and I couldn't think what it reminded me of...well, it reminds me of the '60's! Remember those stickers people were putting on their cars and everywhere...Flower Power! Well, here it is in fabric form. It certainly is colorful, don't you agree?

MAY--THE QUEEN OF MONTHS

Did you know that the month is named for Ma'a, a Roman goddess and mother of the god Hermes? Its astrological sign is Taurus, the bull, April 20--May 21.

The full moon of May is called the Flower Moon because of the lushness and beauty of all the flowering and growth of plants. Also associated with this month is the Green Man, the male form covered with leaves and branches. He is an ancient spirit of the forest who brings life to the fields and forests after the long, dark winter.

And did you know that many flowers and shrubs that bloom now are associated with magic? People planted lilacs near the house to repel evil in days past.

May is also the month when yard and garden work begin in seriousness around Tabby Abbey. Usually the long Memorial weekend is the official start of the frenzy with trips to nurseries and plant shopping. Some years all the clean up work has already been done by this time, but not this year. We still have all of that to do as well. And most of the veggie garden will be turned back to lawn. The raised herb bed will be planted again, but anything else we'll grow will be in containers.

Turning the garden area back to lawn will give Elmo more space to roam (and also more grass for mom to cut but, oh well). We won't need to water as much with a veggie garden in containers. Not sure yet what all we will try and grow. Tomatoes for sure. We can get carrot tops from the neighbors, if they grow them this year. Last year Tabby Abbey was gifted with many huge bunches of carrot tops that the bunnies enjoyed for some time. Our carrot tops were pitiful.

We acquired some new chairs for the front porch and the goal is to make the area more of a "room" to be used in the nice weather. It's very pleasant to sit on the porch in the summer evenings with a nice glass of iced tea, or wine and enjoy the yard after the work is done. It's very relaxing and de-stressing.

After getting the chairs home, it was decided to make a few toss pillows for a little added comfort and homeyness (sp?) and a little search at Wal-Mart found just the right fabric for the covers. In fact, this fabric would tie all the colors of the chairs together. The colors we got are the green and the orange and it was a difficult decision! They are all pretty colors! Our local garden shop at Platt Hill Nursery had them on sale.