Amost Forgot!

I almost forgot! In addition to Sammy's video, I wanted to post a couple of cute kitty pictures.

Chloe in a box

Chloe is a very happy kitty when there is a box around. This box is courtesy of MIL - thanks Claudia. Dan was supposed to tell you we got it yesterday but I doubt he did. Fun goodies - thank you! (And Chloe was a fan, too!)

An Unlady-like Cocoa

I can't decide if Cocoa is being unladylike or if she is doing another Jabba the Hut impression. Though the more I look at the picture, the more I think she needs Bitty beside her on a chain and in a slave costume.

Okay, this last one isn't kitty related, but it's blog-worthy anyway. I got this last week, but considering it came in the day Nibby passed away, yeah, didn't really feel like posting about it.

My Tokoname Kyusu

It holds about 10 oz and I'm not even telling what it costs. But it is so pretty! And it makes a good cup of sencha, too. Yum.

Well, that takes care of the other goodies I wanted to post in additon to Sammy's video. Sammy is on my lap right now and he liked watching me edit his video.

I have to mention one more thing: the silly cat snores. Even when he is awake.

Fat kitty.

Promised Video

Here's the video I mentioned earlier today - I was able to get it quicker than I thought I would. So without further ado, Sammy's Special Dance.

New Addition

I'd like to introduce you to our newest addition, Samuel.

Sammy-boy

Sammy is a 16-pounder that was abandoned at the vet about three weeks ago. He's a very sweet boy that has already earned the right to run around the house unsupervised - less than a week and he's already if not friendly with the others, hasn't had any hits put out on him.

I promised SIL I'd get a video of his little neurotic habit as soon as I can. It's pretty cute - when he dances, he suckles on the third knuckle of his right paw, like he's nursing. It is so weird but really pretty cute. I'll be stalking him with the camera to get video.

Kill Me

I spent way too much time looking at icanhascheezburger.com, which I shouldn't do because the awful spelling and general crackness of the site hurts my head like crazy. But I did find this and it cracked me up, so I'm sharing:

Nibby's Urn

We got a new camera today, so here's a picture of Nibby's urn.

It is about six inches tall, black and white marble. I think it works for the Big Man.

Sigh

My camera is broken. I dropped it off the counter onto tile and yeah, it no longer works. Dan and I should have a working camera this weekend, but until then, I have things I want to post pictures of but can't. Boo.

We got Nibby back yesterday. He is in a lovely black and white marble urn. It is similar to the one we have for Princess, but with a different shape - a little more slender and the lid is tapered. It's very pretty and it feels so much better to have Nibby home. I still miss him so much and it makes me terribly sad but it isn't as painful anymore now that he is home.

Also, this week is "Administrative Professionals' Week". And being an office manager, I fit in that category. So guess what I got yesterday? Flowers! The church got me flowers! They are really pretty pink and yellow tulips in a lovely vase. I have gotten a gift card and a bath/lotion set at previous jobs (and I've also gotten nothing), but never flowers so I think this is way cool. They are sitting on my desk looking pretty. I'm hoping they'll last long through this weekend so I can take them home and enjoy them there, but I want to have them at work this week. I mean, I am here 8 hours a day so I will enjoy them more at work than if they were at home, at least until the weekend.

Hopefully we'll have the new camera soon and then I'll post pictures of Nibby's urn and my pretty flowers. Until then, yeah, you get text.

Smiles

This is something that made me smile today so I thought I'd share. It's about 6 minutes long.

Sweetness

Sweet Big Man

Nibby

Sweet Big Man

Niblet Jay Zimmermann

At about 4:45pm today, our precious Nibby-man unexpectedly passed away. He suffered heart failure brought on by heart disease.

He had started panting on the way to his annual vet check-up, but that wasn't unusual for him as he always got stressed going to the vet. But after we came home and had been home for an hour and he was still panting, I called the vet and they said to bring him back in. I rushed him to the vet and when we got there, he was responsive but fairly limp. They took him to the back and got him hooked up on oxygen. They intubated him and put in a catheter but he continued to worsen. CPR was performed but Nibby did not respond. His poor little heart just gave out.

The vet performed an autopsy and basically said that while ultimately the stress of taking Nibby into the vet today is what triggered the heart failure, his heart was in such condition that he would not have been with us any longer than another month. His heart was greatly enlarged - a wall between the chambers which should be about 2mm thick was 15mm and a section of his heart that should have been able to hold 10mL was able to hold less than 1. Most kitties with heart disease pass away between three and six years old. Nibby would have been six on August 10 of this year.

Needless to say, Dan and I are heartbroken and still in shock. I'm really not sure what I'm going to do without our Big Man. I've been crying for the past four hours, I feel horrible, and I just want my Nibby back.

Oooh, Pretties

Saturday, Dan and I went to Graham and spent the day with my parents. We all went to Clark Gardens in Mineral Wells. Wow. Oh so very wow. We were there for probably a little less than 3 hours and saw maybe 1/2 of the gardens. All of the flowers were absolutely gorgeous. And so you know what that means: graphic-heavy post! (Sorry all you dial-up users!)

Formal Gardens

Juniper

Lily Pads

Bluebonnets - also in pink and purple!

Poppies

Rose

And they have a ton of irises (they seem to be well known for them), so you know I was happy.

Ah, so lovely. And I even got to take home two souvenirs - a bit of a sunburn and this beauty:

Mmm, cereal-y

New tea today.

Citron Green

Pretty, isn't it. Has bits of fruit in it, too.

So, I really like jasmine-flavored green tea. Not so much on the cherry (though I hold out hope because Den's cherry rose tea is supposed to rock). This one kind of falls in the middle. I don't hate it so much I'm unwilling to inflict it on another person (like the cherry tea I had last week or so), but I don't like it enough to keep it and drink it.

Why? Because this is what it tastes like:

Seriously, it tastes likes Fruity Pebbles. It took me a while to figure out what it reminded me of, all I could think of was "cereal", but then it hit me. A few minutes later, Dan pulled up in the drive. I had to run out and have him try some. He tried a little and then I said, "Think cereal." His immediate response: "Froot Loops!"

I can't get over the fact that this tea tastes like a fruity kids' cereal. I mean exactly like. DISTURBINGLY like. Now, I like Fruity Pebbles. Okay, okay. I love them. I can't buy any because it is entirely possible that I will eat the whole box in a day. Really.

But a tea that tastes like it? Just too freaky for me.

Look! Something Different!

I finally did some more scrapbooking! I took a little break of a month or so but now am back at it, at least a bit. Here's what I cam up with tonight:

Blowout Hockey

This is from the December 26th Blues game Dan and I went to when we were in St. Louis. The "blowout" bit is because the Blues were beat 0-5 by Detroit. It was embarrassing.

Sort of like the Ducks current play against the Stars. Sigh.

Zoo Teas

This morning was Pi Lo Chun (which translates, apparently, to green snail spring). It is a good basic Chinese green, but not as good as Dragonwell from earlier or the Green Pekoe from yesterday. I would probably like this tea more if I had tried it after the Green Pekoe.

Though I must say for it, I think the leaves are gorgeous.

Snail tea leaves

And further in the animal tea theme that seems to be happening today, I've got some Ti Kuan Yin Monkey Picked. Quite a yummy tea. And, though different from the Pi Lo Chun's leaves, it has some quite lovely leaves of its own.

Monkey tea

Just thought I'd share!

Gidgie Loves the Manatee, Too

Okay, say it with me:

AWWWWW!

Another Chinese and some Irises

Hmm, sounds like the beginning of a bad and tacky joke...

Anyway, first things first: tea! Tonight is a lovely Green Pekoe (pronounced "peck-o" apparently) from China.

Loose Green Pekoe

This plus the Dragonwell makes me realize that I really like Chinese greens. I wasn't anticipating that because, honestly, anything China can do, Japan can do better, right? But stylistically, the teas are very different. This green pekoe has that same "wilder" sweetness that the Dragonwell does instead of the "lighter" sweetness of the Japanese greens. The green pekoe doesn't really taste like honey or muscat, but there is something in the taste that neither Dan nor I can pin point. (ETA: On the third infusion and that "something" has come out a bit more I think. There is a bit of smoky flavor to it now. Not overwhelming, but enough to go, 'mmm, new taste, yum!')

I like this one a little more than the Dragonwell, I believe. I still have one or two more Chinese greens to try as well, though, but this one will be tough to beat as far as a good, solid Chinese green. Plus, the leaves are absolutely gorgeous.

Look at those colors! So pretty!

And speaking of gorgeous, that brings me to the second part of my post title: irises.

The irises in my side yard are beginning to bloom and boy, are they lovely!

Our 'ittle side yard with lovely irises and stick-like altheas (that are just starting to bed out leaves)

The ones on the other side of the rose bush aren't doing too much, but I think that is because I need to get out there, dig them up and split them. But then I'd have to find more room to plant them and that means I need to make more bed. Or rather Dan needs to make more. Of course, I did plan to have the corner bed stretch along the back side of our fence to sort of mirror (but not) how it now stretches down the side of the fence. But I'm sure Dan was hoping that the expansion would wait a bit. Because the fence is pretty long. Well, we might have to do it in phases. He's got until September, which is when I'll need to split the irises, to convince me to do a partial bed expansion.

For My Husband...

Because I love my husband:

Sugar Glider!

Green Dragon

Experiencing my first Chinese green tea today, Dragonwell. (Too lazy to get a picture - sorry!)

First off, it smells lovely. Like muscat, honey and a little grass (grass as in lawn, not another kind (though can I admit, I seriously don't know what that "other kind" smells like - I'm so sheltered)). It reminds me of this Japanese "muskat" flavored gummy Dan and I used to get a lot. The taste has a little more of a wild, natural-ish sweet flavor (that honey taste) instead of the fresher sweeter flavor (more like a fruit type of sweet) I normally associate with greens. Probably because it is Chinese, not Japanese.

Anyway, not the best green ever (so far kukicha is winning that one for me) but definitely good and quite enjoyable. Also, this is a lighter tea, but you know, I'm really finding that I like those best. Delicate flavor and sweet aftertaste seem to be my favorite things in tea. And while this sweet taste is different than what I'm used to, it fits both of those requirements very well. I'm only on my first steep and I think I'm going to quite enjoy this.

Flowers and Tea... and Cake

Busy post today - lots to say (though none of it important, as usual).

First, tea:

Coconut Tea

The white bits? Coconut, baby!

This morning's tea was coconut tea. Yum! Not too strongly flavored, but a nice, subtle coconut flavor with a lovely smell and nice sweet aftertaste. Perfect with a touch of sugar but smooth enough to not need milk. Very nice! Not sure how it is iced yet but definitely hopeful!

This evening's tea is a lovely and unusual green tea.

Genmai Cha

Green tea with browned rice and popcorn

This tastes like Japanese osembe with a toasty but slightly sweet flavor. Still working on the best way to brew it (Adagio doesn't suggest brewing amounts of the loose tea which is frustrating but I'm hoping things will get easier when I get my scale that I just ordered from Amazon) but I'm quite liking it. It makes me want some edamame since both edamame and osembe are Japanese bar-style foods. So does that make this a bar tea?

In non-tea news, I made an angel food cake and this time it turned out much better than when I tried to make it in the bundt pan. My lovely MIL sent me a tube pan so it even looks like a normal angel food cake.

Okay, so it is a little crooked...

So woo hoo. And I didn't even ruin a pan like I did months ago.

And in other nifty news, the yard is starting to bloom! I've had a couple of white irises bloom and just this weekend, some of the dark purple ones popped out.

Pretty Irises

My yellow ones opened up yesterday (no pics yet) and my purple and whites are starting to open today. Soon the fancy ladies or whatever they are called - the light lilac, frilly ones, should be opening soon.

Oh, and the Lady Bank's rose is huge. I think it is plotting to eat the house.