A cat pours his body on the floor like water. ~William Lyon Phelps

Our cats have such different personalities.  I decided to dedicate this blog post to them.

Smudge, pictured here, we adopted in Washington state about five years ago.  He is around nine years old.  He is very laid back and often standoffish.  But, when he wants attention, he can be very demanding.

Whiskers we adopted nine years ago in Colorado.  My oldest son named him.   He can be a bit psychotic at times. Phil has several nicknames for him, none of them nice or fit to print in a PG rated blog.

Chloe has always been convinced that we got Whiskers for her.  They are best friends.  They sleep together, groom each other, and Whiskers will stand on his hind legs to give Chloe a kiss.

When he gets upset he will call Chloe by name.

 

You can see where Smudge got his name.

 

Pastor Dan made the boys a new cat tower.  It matches our furniture and the carpet.  They love it.

Cats never strike a pose that isn't photogenic.  ~Lillian Jackson Braun

We also got Chloe a new dog bed.  The cats have confiscated it.

Occasionally they will share.

 

But usually she is stuck sleeping on the floor.

 

Last night we went to my favorite restaurant, Buca di Beppo

We first discovered this restaurant when we were in Washington state, and I fell in love with it.  Their spaghetti reminds me of my mama’s!  Not only is the food fantastic, but the ambiance of the restaurant is terrific.  It is filled wall to wall with Italian photos. Photos of Italy,photos of celebrities, non-celebrities . . .even Pope-sickles!

The Spaghetti comes family style.  One order is enough for two to three people.  Plus, you get their wonderful Italian bread.

Phil’s daughter, Alicia, went with us to dinner. Afterward, we went to Pittsburgh for Light Up Night.

From Wikipedia: Light Up Night is a day-long (this year it was two days long) family festival in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania coinciding with the unofficial start of the Winter holiday shopping season. Many retailers in Downtown Pittsburgh remain open late, and street vendors and other concessionaires sell food and give away hot beverages, treats and promotional items. The city is decorated with Christmas lights, trees, and other holiday decorations. On Light Up Night, the skyscrapers and buildings in and around downtown keep their lights on throughout the night, lending to the name.

Photos from downtown.

Alicia with Phil hiding behind her.

Macy’s -- what use to be Kaufmann’s -- windows.

Christmas tree and skating rink at PPG Place.

View from Mt. Washington

Christmas tree at the Fountain at Point State Park.

Alicia wanted to know if this was the Church of the Disco Jesus.

Like father like daughter, I say.

This week I made a delicious loaf of bread.  This is my favorite homemade bread recipe.  I don’t use a bread machine, but you can adapt this recipe to use in a bread machine of you have one.

 

One Big Loaf

1 pkg dry yeast

2/3 cup warm water

2/3 cup milk

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp shortening

31/2 cups bread flour

Proof the yeast by adding the yeast and sugar to warm -- not hot -- water. Let stand about ten minutes until foamy.

Add all ingredients to bread machine or to mixer.  Always add wet ingredients first and then the flour.  Let rise twice.  Remove and place in loaf pan.  Let rise again.  Bake at 425° for 30 minutes.

This makes great toast for breakfast the next day also!

I won several things this week

Vera Wang perfume

 

Earrings from  Alison

$50.00 gift certificate for Glencara from A Mom's Impression

Glencara has beautiful Irish Jewelry.  I sent the certificate to my best friend, Deborah, and she picked out this beautiful ring.

The Amazing Monarch from Readaholic.

This is a beautiful coffee table book on Monarch butterflies.

Books this week.

Thomas E. Sniegoski series about a angel who has decided to leave heaven and live among humans as a private eye.  The best part of the books is his black lab, Marlowe.