Up in the Northeast and MidAtlantic, February meant gazing out impatiently at glacial snow mountains, dreaming of spring arriving one day.  Some days you could barely get out the door or find your car, for all the drifts.

Here in the South, it’s more nuanced; the yard is masses of spring bulb flowers, while a cold, damp breeze portends more days of relentless rain, and temps in the 50s and 60s.  More seeds are germinating inside each day, but all but a few hardy ones will have to wait until mid-April to move out.  Such a teaser.

Meanwhile, unsuspecting Misu is resting up for her big procedure tomorrow, while her pal “Joey” lurks outside, begging for attention.  He follows me all over the yard like a friendly dog.

I guess pouring indefinitely is what it does here in February.  I suppose it beats a deep freeze, but it’s a teaser; you keep thinking it’s April, time to garden.  I mean, the front yard has been invaded by spring flowers already.

So I continue to sow seeds indoors.  The peppers are going strong.  The broccoli I sowed just three days ago is already germinating!!  Today I sowed leeks and onions.  Soon it will be 7 types of tomatoes.  Then I’ll need an actual greenhouse.

Misu says, “Silly humans.  Here’s what you do on a rainy Sunday in February.”  She’s practicing for her next big outing on Tuesday, her spaying and vaccinations, though she doesn’t know it yet.

I can’t even begin to describe how fabulous my birthday was, thanks to my son Avdi and his visiting friend Jess, who went above and beyond to make it memorable.  He’s been showing her around Knoxville, so I was glad I could give them more of an excuse to check out new places.

E and I met them downtown and convened at Chivo, a wonderful Mexican fusion taco place and tequila/whiskey bar, where we sampled a flight of Mescal.  My granddaughter D and her friend V joined us there for the most incredible tacos ever.  I finally got my fish taco!

Next we crossed the street to Suttree’s High Gravity Tavern, a very old establishment, where we had some very good craft beers.  Avdi even talked me into playing one of the pinball machines in the game room, Guardians of the Galaxy, my fav, which was lots of fun.

The grand finale on our tour was the Peter Kern Library, the authentic prohibition era speakeasy, with all the atmosphere, and exquisitely handcrafted cocktails, where we lounged for a while.

Finally, we all met back at our place for E’s really good birthday cake and ice cream, and my gifts from Avdi and Jess.  Here they really outdid themselves, as if the evening wasn’t incredible enough.  They gave me a really unique locally crafted gin by postmodern spirits, and a fine Glenmorangie single malt scotch.  Of course we sampled them.

I feel very privileged and honored to have a son like Avdi, and happy to see him happy for a change.  The best gift of all is having him around, and knowing he feels welcome and at home with us, and comfortable bringing his friends over and being themselves.

Happy birthday to me.  I can’t even count this high, so may as well just drink to whatever it is, while there’s still time!

Coincidentally, here’s a cheery cake by E.  Also a lovely gift package from my brother and B-I-L, R&B, a colander full of ingredients for an Italian dinner and red wine.

Apropos of nothing, here is a pink drink containing tropical fruit juices(pineapple, peach, and cherry), Chambord, gin, ice, lemon and lime slices, and the obligatory umbrella.  Call it an erev birthday drink for two.

In propagation news, I sowed the next batch of seeds indoors–eggplants, brassicas (cabbage family), and some herbs and flowers.  All my peppers and some native milkweeds are coming along well.

Outside it’s headed for 62°, and crocuses have gone wild!  They’re taking over the world!  I love it.  I’m also happy the ones I planted at my son’s are coming up.

One can never have too many flowers.

Today was Misu’s first vet appointment, at West Hills Animal Hospital, and she actually enjoyed it.  She was very calm, explored, discovered the water faucet and cat treats, and welcomed all the attention.  Here she is actually lounging around in the exam room.  She got some initial preventive care and tests, and will get spayed and vaccinated next week.  The vet, Dr. Amanda, and assistants seemed very competent and helpful, and answered all our questions.

On the other hand, the tax person we went to the other day turned out to be a big disappointment, despite her initial surface cordiality.  She was the office manager, yet she couldn’t prepare E’s return correctly or competently, and then turned vindictive when E needed to turn to her previous tax person just to resolve an Ohio school tax issue.  Even a corporate head manager had to weigh in on the matter.  It was yet another unfortunate encounter with lack of professionalism down here, similar to the healthcare ordeal we experienced.  So it’s encouraging to at least find a good vet for our cat.

It’s pouring like a monsoon out, but warm, unlike the wintry nightmare up north.  A perfect day for a worn-out cat to nap it off.  Little does she know we’ll be easing her into the indoor life a lot more from here on out.  Too many health hazards for a kitty out there.

It’s cold and wet out, but these daffodils don’t care; they’ll bloom any day now.  Sometimes I can be an optimist.

Tomorrow will be the newly-chipped Misu’s first official vet visit (that we know of).  She will not be amused; she’s still recovering from the shock of being taken in the car to a place!

More of my pepper babies are up.  It’s a slower day, what can I say?

Today was a big day for Misu the Cat.  We had her scanned at the pet store clinic, and she didn’t have a chip!  So we got her microchipped and registered, and she is now officially Our Cat!  It’s not clear if she’s pregnant, so we’ll take her to a vet or clinic to have her examined, spayed, and vaccinated/etc.  She did extremely well, and made us proud.  The clinic vet guessed she’s between 3 and 5 years old, older than we thought.  Now she’s resting after her “ordeal”.  We’ll try to keep her indoors until she sees a vet, not an easy feat, but better for her.

Here is a daffodil I “forced” indoors.  I too have been forced indoors (haha) by this unpleasant cold.

Let’s see how many other plays on the word “force” I can use.  The Force is with my indoor germinating peppers.  Here are some now.

Misu, a force to be reckoned with, will nevertheless be bribed with treats into her carrier tomorrow, which will take her to a cat clinic for routine preventive procedures and hopefully a chip scan to determine her status.  Then we’ll know if she belongs elsewhere, or is up for grabs.  We really hope it’s the latter, and can proceed accordingly.  Here she is rehearsing for her big outing.

That’s about all the trivia I can force out for now.