Another month has gone by already, time is going by so fast I can barely keep up. The well drilling project is almost complete. It is 160 feet deep, the water table starts at 108 feet, and the well puts out about 12 gallons a minute which is very good. 160 feet is pretty shallow for a well, and we were very surprised it was so shallow because of the altitude we are at - the house is at approximately 7800 feet elevation. The water is clear, clean, and odorless, but a bit on the hard side so we had to order a water softening unit for the system. The constant pressure pump was installed in the well yesterday but the water softener has not arrived yet. It should be here next week sometime and is the last component for the system. After the new pump was installed yesterday we noticed an improvement in the water pressure in the house, hooray for that! It wasn't too bad before, just not what we were used to from a city water connection. The new pump is much quieter than the old one, and it uses less electricity so we'll save a little on that. I have hours of video of the project that need to be edited, but until I have some time to go through all the footage here are some still pics of the well being drilled.

Ginger and the babies are doing good, they are growing up so quickly! Bubble, Squeak, and Paulie are thirty three days old now and getting around pretty good although they are still a little wobbly at times. I spend time with them in the mornings and evenings mostly, when they are most active. I sit on the floor and they climb all over me and we play, they are so adorable! I try to get some pics and video of them each day, and again I have not had time to edit all of the video but here is the updated webgallery with more recent pics of them.

Pete's birthday is Saturday, July 5th, and I'm doing everything I can to make sure he has a great birthday this year. Last year at this time things were pretty awful, and neither of us had any fun at all the entire summer because of the huge amount of time we had to spend at the restaurant. We have both paid a very heavy price for our involvement in that place, both financially and emotionally, and with all of the sacrifices he made to help me with that mess I owe it to him to give him the best birthday ever. Happy birthday, Honey. I love you very much and appreciate all that you do for us!

About a month ago we found out that the other kitty, who was still living under the restaurant after we'd adopted Sushi, was pregnant. There was no way I could leave her there to have those babies outdoors all alone, so I brought her home. She was not as far along as the vet thought, because it was nearly three weeks before she had the babies early in the morning on Friday, May 31st. There are three of them and they are all tiger striped, they look like triplets! We named the mommy Ginger, in keeping with the girls' food name theme. With the addition of Sushi, Ginger, and her babies we now have ten felines on the premises. Here are some pictures of Ginger and her babies, they are ten days old today and are starting to open their eyes a little bit. They are super cute and I'm having a lot of fun watching them grow up!

Spring is here, so get your cleaning supplies out and go to it! Who is responsible for the whole "Spring Cleaning" thing, anyway? The Victorians were obsessed with cleaning, my guess is it reigns from that era. In keeping with tradition I've begun the ritual in my home, however this year I've purchased a couple of new tools that will be making the job easier and faster any time of year. Visit the Favorite Things page to find out more about my new Hoover FloorMate and Shark Cordless Hand Vacuum, two cleaning tools that were worth every penny!

Over the next few days petals will be flying in honor of Mothers everywhere. While this is a happy occasion, the sending of flowers is a hazardous habit. You see, a large percentage of flowers that are grown specifically for the floral industry are highly toxic due to the fact that they are grown in countries with limited environmental laws regarding pesticide use. While it may be passé, the unregulated use of pesticides is a problem even in today's environmentally conscious society. Pesticides are harmful to all life forms, especially those who come in close contact with them – primarily the farm workers. These people pay the highest price for the floral industries’ revenue dollars, but there is something you can do to help: buy green flowers. By purchasing flowers that have been grown in an eco-friendly manner you are sending a message to growers that continue to use pesticides. If they cannot sell their product they will change their production methods, it’s that simple. For more information, please read the Union of Concerned Scientists article about the floral industry and visit the Fair Trade Certified Flowers website. So this Mother’s Day boycott those eco-offenders and hit ‘em where it hurts, their bottom line!

About a week ago we adopted a little female tortoiseshell kitty that was living under the restaurant. Kitty is doing really well and is getting settled into her new home and (finally) a new name, Sushi. We wanted to give her a food name so she'd be like the other two girls, Coconut and Zucca (Pumpkin), and after nearly 6 days we had still not come up with anything that all of us liked. Wednesday my best friend Jessica sent me an email suggesting Mushroom, Sushi, and Sashimi, three things that she knows Pete and I are very fond of. We tried them all out on the little girl that evening and when we called her Sushi she meowed! We called her Sushi and Sushi-Q the rest of the night, and she meowed every time so we figured that she liked it. I think it's fitting that Jess came up with the name for her because a few years ago when she adopted a little black kitty Pete picked what became his name, Ronin. And now we have a cat named Sushi, isn't that cute?