Anna In NY's photostream  

I have a tradition of getting myself something nice on V Day, it makes the day sweeter. This year I got myself these shoes, which make me smile. I took this photo while bored out of my mind doing my shift at the food pantry. No one has come in today. I restocked the shelves and reorganized the pet pantry, and now I'm just reading the Internet and taking pictures of my feet...

I just found this pic I took of last autumn's foster kitten, Rama. I didn't have him for too long, he got adopted by a lovely person who appreciates his sweet nature.

He never had an official name during his time with me (I'm still getting junk mail from my vet addressed to "Foster Kitten McDuff"!), but unofficially I called him Rama because he is dark and has adventures. My friend Sue from the shelter was interviewing for a job at a local vet clinic when she saw this baby all alone in a cage - no food, water or litter box. She asked about his story and was told that he had been abandoned in the parking lot over night, and that not to worry about him, they were going to put him down if he hadn't been reclaimed by the close of business that day. Sue didn't take the job - she did take the kitten though! Unfortunately her cats didn't really take to the little guy, all the local shelters were full and unwilling to take on yet another black kitten (people are very bigoted towards black cats here and they are hard to find homes for) and as she lives in a small house where cat wars are hard to live through I said I'd foster him. He is a little darling who adores people, a true snuggle cat, but it became apparent that he'd been abandoned because he has serious health issues. Many ginormous vet bills later it became clear that he was FCV+, nowhere near as bad as having feline leukemia or feline aids, it's nonetheless incurable and somewhat akin to having feline herpes. He has flare ups when stressed and if those aren't managed they can have knock on effects on his health. I'm so glad and grateful that we managed to find someone big hearted enough to look past all that to see the gorgeous little boy he truly is. I know he will give her all the love his furry heart can hold!

I fell hard for a bunch of deep pink anemones at the grocery store, then I had to buy another bouquet to display them with. I adore anemones. So beautiful, so hard to say five times fast.

This is a Dinkytown institution - My Aunt Jean used to go here for breakfast back in the 60s! It is the narrowest restaurant in Minneapolis, only 10 feet wide, and as there are only about 10 stools for customers to sit on, people usually have to wait a long time to get seated. So I made sure to get there early and had a lovely relaxed 7am breakfast. I got blackberry pancakes topped with strawberries & blueberries served with maple syrup and very delicious they were, too.

It was a beautiful morning, and not too cold for Minneapolis in January, below freezing, sure, but not far below.