Forgotten photographs ...

... I'd bought Pingu a new bed, Snuggle Pod, as it happens (hey, it matches the couch). It was delivered to Mr Brown's office this very day.
Ping took to it right away, snuggling down like it'd been there all the while.
So, of course I whipped out the happy snappy for a pic or two.Then I downloaded them.Then the tears started.I'd forgotten I'd taken some shots of Small on her last days.The last day we initially expected (and then the vet fucked things up but let's not dwell on that shall we).And the actual last day (which the vet initially totally fucked up, leading to my having to be bossy while weeping on the phone, but we won't hold that against them will we? I'm not bitter).Anyway, I think, I like to think Small's last days,Were spent doing what she loved, snoozing, drinking wild water and being in the garden.Now excuse me, I'm getting the laptop wet again.

Last night ...

... Ms Pingu met Mrs Possum. Accidentally, of course.
I was hanging out some washing in the wild hope it wouldn't rain today (so far so good), I mustn't have snibbed the back door shut properly.
It was still light, and Mrs Poss hasn't been coming down for dinner until quite late recently, so I wasn't expecting her.
I heard a snick, snick, turned around and there she was, climbing down the pergola post to the seat where her (empty) little dish sat.
I heard the tinkle of Ping's bell and whoosh, there she was on the pergola seat, on her back feet, sniffing noses with Mrs Poss.
Neither of them growled, hissed or scratched.
Ms Pingu was whisked away pronto, before the shock of the new wore off.
She's lonely, is my poor Ping.

Martian Food ...

... Zoomie suggested it, I'm game.
This, believe it or not, was delicious. It's a Passionfruit Clafoutis, that basically looks like I baked frogspawn into a sponge.
And this, well I still cannot believe I put these things in my mouth. But I do, gleefully.

The Adventures of Morgan Mouse ...

.... now I'm wishing I'd bothered to learn to play the guitar.

Sometimes the rain ...

... which has been pretty much non-stop for days and days now, leading to life-force sapping 80+% humidity, makes something beautiful.
I give you a teeny wee drop of rain, balanced on the antenna of a blue banded bee. Lovely, non?

You know when you look at a menu ...

... and you can't decide? When you want 3, 4 or 5 of the main course or entree choices (I always go savoury over sweet)? And you wish to yourself, "I wish this was a degustation, then I could have a taste of EVERYTHING"?
Well, if you live in Sydney, your wish is granted. 11 Kitchen, 11 Lime Street (King St Wharf, tourist tat city I know! But still...) is a permanent degustation menu. Mr Brown & I ended up there, on spec, on Wednesday night.
They list series of dishes, lightest to richest, and you select what you fancy, 3, 4, 5 or more choices, and there you go. Small, manageable, servings of what you fancy. Enough to satisfy your wish to taste, enough to let you try another dish or two (or three). Beautifully presented in a nice venue with an EXCELLENT wine selection (glass, 1/2 bottle-sized carafe or bottle) which led to a total dry-February fail on our part. But what the hey, you only live once.
The only irritant, the wankers at the table next to ours, loud talking, know all, accountants or some such. brrrrrr.
Still, you can't blame the place for that.
Mr Brown and I will be revisiting, and soon.

Summer tomatoes ...

... the mystery heirloom tomatoes are ripening.
Which means I can finally identify the varieties. So far we have Black Krim

Possibly a limmony or yellow brandywine.

And Green Zebra.
I foresee tomato salads and possibly a tomato & goat cheese tart in our future!

I think they like it here ...

... I got home with just enough light to catch this.Ten little blue banded bees all in a row.This totally makes up for those ghastly, stringy, pink-flower bushes attacking me every morning. As you can see, they changed spots during the "shoot", some of that wild leg waving ensued.

Edited to add - It's piss-bucketing down rain outside, so I popped out to see how the little fellas were doing. Still clinging to the plant, soaking wet poor poppets. So I've carefully manoeuvred the tendril so it's under the porch roof, out of the rain. I do hope they'll be ok.

Edited to add AGAIN - O my, o my, my pic got retweeded by Mr Firstdogonthemoon! I am most cuffed I must say.

Forgotten floors...

... when we first moved into the Brown Mouse House I was most enamoured with the wooden floors. Our last house was built on a nasty concrete slab, so the look, the sound and the feel of wooden floorboards was a lovely surprise. For years we used to roll up the carpets for summer, it seemed cooler even if it really wasn't, and we'd roll them out again when it chilled up a bit.Small's last week or so was a bit messy. She hated it and we hated it, although the cleaning up has convinced me (almost) that I just may be able to change a nappy. It would be noisy and horrifying, but I wouldn't actually die from it.Part of our managing Small's little problem was to roll up the carpets. Wooden boards are much, much easier to clean. I'd forgotten the floorboards, their modest gleam, their quirky markings (several of the larger ones mistaken for little accidents), the glow that shone off them in the afternoon.These photos don't show the colour or glow at it's best, but believe me, it's quite lovely.
I think we'll leave the carpets rolled for a bit.

Sorry, I've gone private again ...

... I found out someone had added me to "networked blogs" on the evil facebook. This has freaked me out and I think I'll draw a veil over things for a bit until I feel calmer about stuff.
I hate facebook and that people (far flung relatives I don't really have anything to do with mostly), keep finding me on it despite my best efforts. It gives me the heebies.
You know, perhaps this blogging thing isn't such a good idea.

Why the Brown Mouse House smells so nice ...

... because my little sister, S, organised flowers from the family. Flowers with "an oriental feel" were called for, as the venerable Siamese, Small, had died.
She was worried about them being delivered to the empty house but nixed our mum's suggestion to have them delivered to work.Good thinking, I'm not sure how messy that would have been, but it would have been messy.The most divine tuberoses, with a hint of pink about them in a certain light.

And, of course, gorgeous white oriental lilys. The pollen not only dusts the petals, but if you get it on your clothes, makes for a most-excellent saffron substitute.
Small's grave, dug in the pouring rain, was lined with lavender and pretty purple/blue daisies. We also sprinkled her with the last of the gardenias.