"I'M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP"

 I walked into Judy's room the other day and found a freshly made bed in bright colors.

And, of course, right in the center of it, Miss Sweety-Pie.

Our latest little cat came to us weighing a paltry 7 pounds or so and no matter what or how much we feed her she has not seemed to gain much weight.

Apparently she's a small cat and she will remain that way.

But like any cat, she knows where she looks best and the contrast of the colored sheets and pillowcases and that little black cat called out for a photo.

She is not a tuxedo cat with a patch of white.

She is just solid black.

With her brown eyes, it is often difficult to tell whether they are open or not.

So I zoomed in to see if I could tell.

They are still difficult to see but, yes, they are open.

Watching the photographer carefully to see what he's going to do next.

By the way, this spot on Judy's bed is her preferred spot for her lengthy afternoon naps.

But whenever or wherever Judy or I meet in our home to chat, she inserts herself exactly between us.

For that reason we have also named her "Little Miss In-Between".

Cats.

Sometimes confounding, sometimes maddening, but always lovable members of our family.

GOODBYE, JUNE

 Can you believe it?

July is here.

It seems like just a few days ago that we were welcoming June and now she's gone for another year.

Oh well, July is really the image of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Swimming, boating, barbecues, watermelon, ice cream and here in the foothills of Arizona even some rain.

It rained during the night but I missed (slept through) it.

All I know is that there was a puddle in my driveway this morning.

We may get some isolated thunderstorms in the next couple of days, if the Weather Gods are to be believed.

Traditionally, locals say the Monsoon Season begins here on the Fourth of July but it arrived a bit early this year.

Speaking of the Fourth of July, Prescott Valley celebrates with Red, White and Boom!

It's a 6 hour festival of music, food and, inevitably, a grand finale.

Once again fireworks will light up the sky.

Our neighboring town of Prescott has their traditional cowboy event which they call the World's Oldest Rodeo, even though several other towns argue about that title.

But about fireworks.

Some basically ground-based items are legal in Arizona.

Not legal are rockets or Roman candles.

You can be arrested for violating the laws.

So leave the aerial displays to the professionals.

They do a much better job.

Anyway, Happy 4th of July and have a happy whole month of July.

Remember, it only comes once a year.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Just when you thought it was safe to come out of your cocoons . . . look who shows up!

This has been a very quiet week for me here in Blogland.

You may wonder why.

The only time I've posted this week was on Tuesday.

I was getting ready to the next day but then this left me deep in thought.

And by the time I got that all sorted out it was too late.

To those who've wondered, it's just duties around and about that have kept me from sharing my innermost thoughts.

No health problems.

Well, other than . . .

So there.

With that batch of groaners to wind things up I hope I've redeemed myself.

Now I'm being a beautiful dreamer in trusting that y'all will have yourselves an absolutely stunning weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . oooohh, what a mouth you've got on you . . . )

IS HE DEAD?

 I know what you're thinking.

Is he okay?

Why isn't he posting on his blog?

What's going on?

So to answer . . .

Yes, I am okay.

I haven't had anything to post.

Life goes on.

So here:

A photo from our side yard, showing  La Monja, the Blue Cat, an old bird bath pedestal now holding a dish of brightly colored glass, a bit of the fence painting, and the current birdbath with a frequent visitor that I believe is a house finch.

And that's about as exciting as it's been around here.

But the fence painting has been progressing.

A new larger tree has emerged from some of the rugged old boards of the past.

The sky has some new clouds above.

So it continues to evolve.

And as much as I could say, I shall not comment about Donald Trump.

Oh, and as I wrote to a friend this morning, we re-watched the original "MASH" movie last night.

I thought it was great, Judy was kind of so-so on it, but we agreed that the recently departed Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye Pierce was fantastic.

Peace be unto you.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

It's been a trying week here at Camp Confusion but I shan't bother you with my tribulations.

Suffice it to say we shall saunter on toward Saturday, smiling serenely.

In the meantime, here are some items that will hopefully make the rest of you smile.

So that's the end of my message, friends.

Now wrestle yourselves together and have yourselves a scintillating weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . oh, no! . . )

DEBRIS

 I paid another visit to the site of the Legado project today.

Here's what I found.

All that remains of the 60 million dollar loss is a small part of the parking garage.

The combination housing and shopping complex is gone for now, just rubble being loaded into trucks to be hauled away.

The arsonist that caused all this at this point remains at large.

FATHER'S DAY 2024

 It's really not a big day for me, hasn't been in years.

But here's a rare smiling photo of my own dad, for whom I'm named, the senior Franklin Taylor.

Our names differ in that he was Franklin Berry Taylor and I am Franklin Bruce Taylor.

His middle name came from his mother.

I have no idea where mine came from.

And one picture of the two of us in my back yard in Phoenix, sometime in the 1970's, as we were engaged in a tough game of cribbage.

He died in 1980, 44 years ago now.

On the other end of the spectrum, I had an email from my only living son this morning.

He said his youngest daughter graduated from high school yesterday and also, because of an advanced placement program she was enrolled in, got an AA degree for her first two years of college!

He was very proud of her for that, as he should be, and said he was just going to take it easy today.

And now the picture you've all been waiting for, a selfie I took this morning to send to a friend who's celebrating his 86th birthday today.

That picture gives me . . . . "Satisfaction"!

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Well, here we are again at the penultimate day before a weekend.

It looks good for a hot time in the old town.

We consider ourselves fortunate.

Our old toaster oven/air fryer has been relocated to the garage and mostly forgotten.

Except for this time of year in our environs when it's just too warm to turn on the oven in the house.

So the other day I baked some Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken in the device we had nearly forgotten.

We got a hot meal and the house stayed cool.

Good old a.c.

Anyway enough about that.

Let me entertain you!

Now, if there are any (many) of these gems that you don't understand just think about it for awhile and it will come to you.

Speaking of coming to you, you don't think I'd forget these guys, did you?

Here in Arizona, we call it a FRIED-DAY!

All right, I'll stop.

I'm not complainin', just explainin'.

So go ahead, wherever you are and feel free to have an amazingly stupendous weekend.

But always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . sorry, couldn't resist one more . . )

A SONG

This tune has been running through my head today.

So I decided to share my earworm with you.