Five things that made me smile

I've been tagged by JTL to write five things that have made me smile this week. After writing the Goodbye post, I need some cheering up. Here goes.

• Finding a recipe for avocado pie and then being told by the grocery man that avocados are going on sale next week for 68 cents each. Avocados are like gold in Minnesota. Anything under $1.50 each is a steal. I am so jealous of folks who can go out in the backyard and pick as many as they wish. I once stayed in a California home where the avocado tree was groaning with fruit. Standing under it was like standing under a money tree. I felt like those were dollar bills hanging down over my head.
  

• Playing Neopets with my eight-year-old niece. Her parents want her to be older before she has her own internet accounts but they are allowing her to play Neopets on an account in my name when she is here visiting, which is every Friday night. This is more interactive for the two of us than it probably sounds. Our only working computer at the moment is the laptop. Lacking a desk, we have to balance the unit on our laps, on top of a piece of wood (for air circulation) and a pillow (for comfort). She just does not have enough "lap" to manage it. So, when she and I play on the computer, I sit in the recliner and hold it all in my lap while she sits on an ottoman at my side and plays her games. In such close quarters, definitely quality time.

• My current cross stitch project. It is my most ambitious piece so far, and I am pushing to finish it for a friend's birthday party, with less than a week left. With every stitch I picture the look on her face when she opens it. We have known each other for over 30 years, and she has been such a steadfast friend through all our recent difficulties. I will have a progress photo posted later today on that blog. Of course I realize I will now have to start friendship pieces for several other friends who have been just as steadfast and supportive. That's part of the joy of doing cross stitch: giving it away.

• Listening to J playing with the outdoor kitties under my window. He has never been around kittens before. His mother did not allow their family to have any pets when he was growing up. I had a cat when he met me but she was full grown, so this is new to him. He has taken on the task of feeding them every day, which now entails dressing in layers of warm clothes (it has been below zero here for several days now and is expected to stay there for a few more days) and hauling water and catfood to the former chickencoop where the outside cats live. They follow him around like the Pied Piper. He picks up each one in turn and loves them up. It is so sweet to watch. Smitten with kittens. More about the cats here.
  

• This website. I check it every day to see if there is anything new or any new concerts scheduled. If I need cheering up I just browse the photo gallery. I may blog in the future about what this guy has meant to me and how he has changed my life.