This plant is a Purple Shield, it has some Latin name that I am not going to try to spell here. I always thought they were cool because, uh, they're purple, ok? I bought this one in February despite not being sure how well it might do inside here. In fact, it has more than tripled in size since then. That's a huge relief, when I had a garden, almost all of the plants would be thriving, minding their own business, and I would obsessively fuss over some sickly little specimen that was obviously never going to make it.
Even better, it has apparently felt the call of spring and has set flowers. I was delighted when I saw all the buds, but then the actual blooms turned out to look like puny orange dandelions. Oh well.
In local cat news, I followed Diane von Austinburg's very sensible suggestion that I lure Octavia out from under the bed with treats. Turns out Octavia is a snack whore. I can relate. Once she connected me with treats, she let me pet her and then once she let me pet her, she has started demanding attention.
She slept with me this morning, which was really sweet except for the part about waking me up by yelling at me to pick her up and put her in bed. She can jump up herself, but she has sort of a hard time with it. I'm going to get some of those steps so I don't have to act as some kitty longshoreman. Once she settled down, she set to licking my arms because apparently she didn't approve of my hygiene. If you've never been licked by a cat, it is very much like being attacked with wet sandpaper. Again, so sweet, except now my forearms smell like cat food.
Dudes I wish were yelling at me to get in my bed:
Maybe he needs me to lick him.
Thoughtful and meaty, an excellent combo.
I just love a man with good balance. I fall over enough for both of us.
I think I may have featured this guy sort of recently, but I'm too lazy to check.
Artistic buttchops.