I wanted to write about St. Paddy’s Day today, but this morning when I woke up, things were strange. Very strange!
Our cat Sasha, who usually meets me at the bedroom door meowing like she’s dying of starvation, was quiet. “Hmmm... Where’s Sasha?” I thought. I opened the door, and then she almost knocked me down trying to get in our bedroom. Luckily, I was alert enough to get her before she darted under the bed; it was not quite time for hubby to wake-up.
Then more eeriness. Instead of meowing her way down the hall, tangling up in my feet, she walked in front of me as if to say, “I have to protect you,” stopped at the edge of the hallway, ears erect, and peered into the den. Considering this unusual behavior, I, too, peered into the den before going any farther. I didn’t know what I was looking for, so obviously, it wasn’t there. Nothing seemed awry, so I continued into the kitchen to make my morning cup of coffee.
Hold-up! Houston, we have a problem! Seems like one of our under-the-counter lights had a mishap during the night. There was glass everywhere. These lights are always turned-off when we retire in the evening, so I knew it was not a “heat explosion.”
After a bit of checking, I concluded that the aforementioned cat roamed the counter (where she shouldn’t be) during the night and hit the glass cover, where it fell from its hinges and exploded into a million pieces.
After about ten minutes into my coffee time of cleaning glass, I had yet to hear so much as a meow from beloved kitty, for which I was, at that moment, doubting my devotion. She was sitting between the opening of the kitchen and den, occasionally glancing at me, but more intently staring up the staircase, like she was expecting Lurch Adams to come bounding down at her (much how she acts when our grandchildren are here).
Her continued spookiness started to spook me.
Still without coffee so much as even brewing, I scrapped the clean-up project and went upstairs to see if maybe our son had not left for work yet, or if one of his friends had spent the night, or if an unannounced late-arriving relative had come over. (Just weighing some of the un-scary options).
Negative to all of the above. No one was there. I called my son, who was already at work, and told him of the mess in the kitchen. He said he heard something during the night, but thought it was hubby up and moving around.
Relaxing a bit, I told kitty she was crazy and headed back downstairs. I got the coffee going, fed precious and tried to get into my work, but darling cat continued to monitor the staircase; even to the point that, when hubby got up, we both ventured up and started nosing around. We searched every room, in every closet, and under every bed. Behind doors, shower curtains – you know the drill. But nothing.
The only thing we could conclude is that I had left the vacuum cleaner in the hall from the day before because I was not through with my cleaning. Once we put it into a bedroom and closed the door, little lovely proudly pranced up there to do cat things’ came back downstairs, ate a bite, and then snuggled up in her little bed by the warm fireplace, perfect in her white robe of queenliness!
And all that time, I thought she was alerting and protecting me. Silly me! That cat just couldn’t be comfortable with the “thing” hanging out in the hallway. It was all about us protecting her! Where’s a dog when you need one?
Corned Beef is an old Irish favorite, and St. Patrick’s Day is coming soon. Surely you’ve noticed the decorations in the store? With as fast and furious as celebrations are promoted in the stores, it won’t be long before all holidays are represented at the beginning of the year. Christmas will be on one isle, New Years on the next, then Valentines, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter – all lined up row after row.
St. Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick is a cultural and religious holiday celebrating the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death, a noted patron saint, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.
Hubby wanted me to try a new recipe – Kitty Stew – but I decided on something not so radical, and somewhat more practical. Poor kitty!
3-5 lbs. seasoned corn beef
1 bag of crab boil
4 Irish potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 small head of cabbage; quartered
and sprinkled with a teaspoon of sugar
Prepared horseradish sauce
Place the corned beef and crab boil in a large pot; cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook uncovered about one-and-a-half to two hours, or 30 minutes per pound. Halfway through cooking, add the potatoes. Place the cabbage in a steamer on top of corned beef pot. Cook until tender. Remove the meat, place it on a cutting board to cool slightly, and then slice it. Serve with sauce. Whip up some good hot corn muffins to go with this delicious meal!