I finally took the plunge, rented a PMB so I can find some postal letter friends. I haven't had one in over ten years, and though I missed postal pals, I'd not felt motivated to actually set up a safe way for others to write me. I have already written one person, and will try to find a variety of interesting penpals. I don't want to get too busy with those, but I do find REAL letters, the actual pen-and-paper-envelope-stamp kind, to be much more personal and inspiring than email. If any of my readers wish to share postal letters, please send me an email and I'll get back to you with a postal address.

I also have some new cat photos online. My sister gave me the cutest basket with a ceramic cat in it; but I took the cat out, and let my REAL cats have fun with it. The basket is cute, has a big bow on it, and a soft cushion inside -- which, of course, attracted the cats. You can see photos at the bottom of this album HERE And the rest of them here for readers who are cat lovers, like myself.

What else? I'm still engaged in making wine, and having fun with it...very time-consuming.

And it's been beautiful weather here, although a bit nippy/cold for this time of year. It got down to 38 degrees last night, but has warmed up to the high 60s today.

Naturally I had to go ride my bike around noon, since it was so nice outdoors. No one there when I first got to the park, but then this fat gal and her skinny Mexican boyfriend arrived, smooching on each other. At least the fat women can find them a boyfriend now...(sarcasm)

Yes, I am upset with the number of illegal Mexicans that have flooded our town/region. In fact, just yesterday there was a huge drug bust here of meth; turns out, the whole operation (one of the largest in our state ever!) was run by illegal Mexicans! Like I've stated before, I don't mind immigrants so long as they are LEGAL. The illegals are a huge drain on social/community resources, not to mention the drug problems they create. The Prez can yell and condemn Arabs, but can't seem to muster any outrage at the number of Americans the illegal Mexicans have managed to ruin via their druggie trade, now can he? Need that cheap labor, so the rich won't have to pay DECENT wages to blue-collar American workers here. [I'll get down off my soapbox now.]

I also dropped by the Salvation Army Thrift store, bought a bunch of pillows and blankets for my pet cats and the strays. I always buy that stuff there, which saves money and then I can just discard it all when it gets soiled. I have a large insulated dog-house outdoors, which I've turned into a cat-house! :-) It has a pile of soft pillows in it, with thick blankets to keep them warm. I also have several other big plastic boxes with round holes at one end for cats to sleep in outdoors. At least they can find a good, safe, warm place to sleep when the weather is cold or rainy. And I'm now feeding two regular strays-- the little gray-striped female that never goes into heat; and a battered-looking Russian blue. Both stay in the yard almost all the time, and never miss a meal!

I'll close for today. Oh, I still weigh 93 lbs, as of this morning...so I'm not dieting, just watching what I eat.