What a crazy day off yesterday was!  I was getting ready to mow the grass, and had let Leo and Bella out with me to check things out first.  I was down on the sidewalk, and Leo was up on the slope above me, when I noticed two puncture wounds protruding from a bald, swollen circle on his chest.  I screamed, scooped him up, ran inside, threw him into the nearest pet carrier and ran out to the car.  I got to the vet's before the vets got there!
  When the technician teared up when she looked at him, I lost it.  I cried and tried not to, but Leo has seen me through the toughest times in my life thus far, and I've seen him through a few rough patches of his own.  He means a lot to me, and I'd like to have him around a lot longer.

Eeewwww! 6 stitches and a drain!

  I had to leave him there, but they called me when he went into surgery, called me again when he came out, and were kind and helpful when I picked him up.  He was a bit woozy and slow on his feet, but was able to work around his Elizabethan collar to get a drink.  Did you know that's what those upside down lampshades are called?  I laughed at that part of the bill, but not that one costs $20.
  He's being very clingy, but still wants to go outside.  I was hoping his unpleasant adventure would teach him otherwise, but he's a slow learner.
  Today, I drove to Cookeville to meet up with Dana and Matt.  Dana's mother passed away last week, and she was in Cookeville to help her dad deal with everything.  Matt has been asked to come back to Nashville to be the chef at Marche in East Nashville.  Do whatever you believe to be most powerful and wish with me that he'll accept the offer!  San Francisco is simply too far away, and unlike Tony Bennett, I have never left my heart there.  Matt is ready but Dana is reluctant, and I have every fiber in my being hoping to sway her into giving in.
  Mom and I got to Cookeville too early for lunch so we were told to go to the nursery down the road until Matt was ready.  Twist our arms!  I found the first rose to go into my planned rose garden, a climber called Joseph's Coat.  It's fragrant and beautiful, but I got home too late and too tired to plant it.  I will try to get it into the ground tomorrow, along with the Gardenia I bought as well.

  On the work front--no, no weaving this week!--I came up with a lovely early summer dessert that I wanted to show off.  It's a raspberry cornmeal pudding cake with poached rhubarb, rhubarb gelee and caramel corn ice cream sitting on caramel corn.  It's so yummy, and I have to say, I think it's rather pretty!
  Enjoy the not-quite-summer weather, and have a lovely week!
Maggie