with a chance of rain...

i put aside my vertigo just long enough to venture out onto the balcony this morning with my two best girls.

i was hoping to catch some part of the sunrise, but there were two tiny problems. firstly, we have a southwest view (technically, it is more like a west-southwest view), which is a prime setup for spectacular sunsets. sunrises... not gonna happen, but one can keep trying. secondly, and—more importantly—the sky is overcast with a chance of rain (thunderstorms even). great for the plants, but rather disappointing when i spent the past few hours mentally preparing for this challenge. still, i had cats and coffee and the (relative) peace of a sleepy Sunday morning.

we had some high winds this past week, and the zucchinis took quite the beating.

i grabbed the pruners and removed the worst of the damaged leaves. i may pop a few more seeds into the pot in the coming days, but i am hoping the plants will spring back to life and save me the trouble.

baby bear was deeply engrossed in licking dew from the tops of the bottles that serve as a backup water supply for the zukes.

in case you are curious, those bottles once contained Éphémère Pear, which is brewed in the city of Chambly, about twenty minutes outside of Montreal, so it is a local(ish) beer. the bottles have champagne corks, which is highly appropriate when you take into account that i am such a classy broad.

hopefully we will not have a repeat of last summer, when the squirrels saw fit to lop the top off of the croton. should that happen, my favorite animator will definitely beat a squirrel to death with the freshly-chewed stem, and i will take pictures and cheer.

you may notice the tray of (un-planted) transplants. we ran out of soil, so they will have to stay put until someone musters up the enthusiasm to remedy that situation. worst case scenario, they remain as is and end up as bonsai herbs. i see nothing wrong with that.

the girls and i spent some time staring at the downstairs neighbor's cat, who seems to have a fondness for sleeping atop their covered grill. (s)he is such a pretty kitty. i believe they also have a black cat, though that one seems to prefer to sleep indoors. i concur.

after a few minutes, the neighbor kitty yawned and went back to sleep, so mama kitty found a cozy spot and did the same. not a bad way to kill some time while waiting for the rain.