Today we celebrate Stella's "Gotcha Day," the day--SEVEN years ago--she came to live with the dude and me. This picture is from last December. (Right now with her shaved neck, Stella would prefer no photos.) Don't be fooled; this photo documents Stella at her cuddliest

It also happens to be my dad's birthday. Later today, I'll be bringing him a blueberry cake. Blueberry cake is his favorite. My mother made it every year for his birthday until Maggie came over to help my aunt clean our house and she decided that this little stand up recipe holder that my mother had, the one with our family's most important recipes, was too dirty. So she threw it away! (She also assumed my mother didn't really cook since she wasn't much of a housecleaner.) (Not true.) Anyway, since the advent of Pinterest, I've been trying different blueberry cakes to see if we can find the old recipe.

I haven't been stitching much partly because of my parents' visit but also because some somebodies turned TWO!

And how old am I, yelling out the years as if I am completely unaware that time passes?