Mornings…. this is what mine look like, not that it’s especially noteworthy, just started typing and here’s what came out…

Hmmmmm….at night, when we go to bed, we set the alarm for 6:15 A.M. My mornings go like this…I get up and Copper is usually meowing and meowing at me to give him some food. This is a new behavior from my 14 year old cat who used to be very independent and aloof. He’s somehow decided to be very talkative, especially in the morning. As soon as I open the bathroom door, there he is, sitting right by the door, looking up at me expectantly and meowing. Okay….So I give him a little bit of food and start to make breakfast for Scott. I may have mentioned in past posts, and those who read this who know me well may be aware, I’m not normally the one who uses the kitchen much. That area of our house has traditionally been Scotts area. But, things have begun to shift a bit in our lives…I now make breakfast…every morning. I know, I also had to read that sentence twice. It’s true. I wouldn’t lie to ya. My repertoire is not extensive, but Scott never ever complains, this could be due to the shock of seeing me preparing food, or maybe its fear? Who knows, possibly fear of what he’s going to have to eat! Hah! Naaaa, I’m choosing to believe that he’s just grateful and hungry! His favorite breakfast food is pancakes. I’ve actually mastered making pancakes… from scratch no less! Yep! Milk, egg, butter , sugar,salt,baking powder, vanilla and cinnamon! I hope your sitting down as you read this…cuz’ it’s fairly unbelievable, but true. One batch makes enough for two days for him, I’m not a big fan of Pancakes so I zip lock the remainder and voila! I have two meals! Hah!

Now that we live in Coffee country we have freshly roasted beans that I grind just before brewing. That’s right folks, no Starbucks to be found here in the highlands of Boquete, Panama! And just to make sure we keep that coffee as pure as possible, we’ve invested in a very good french press and a fancy carafe to keep it warm as well as an equally fancy whirr grinder . Of course Scott did a bit of research online and read all about the best way to prepare coffee and apparently these are the tools that are essential for this task. We used to buy huge bags of French Roast coffee from Costco but now I drive to the coffee finca down the road and pick up the coffee beans directly from the grower. I gotta tell ya, we are officially, “coffee snobs”. We have experimented with various ways of making the coffee, different degrees of grinding, different amounts of water, different amounts of time for the coffee to brew, different temps for the hot water, etc, etc…And have come up with our perfect brew. It’s been a gradual process, and we now have our recipe down. So, while pancakes are cooking, coffee is brewing, and of course a certain demanding kitty is happily eating as all this goes on.

While Scott and Kitty happily chow down their breakfasts I walk out to the patio with my coffee to find a hungry doggy with a wagging tail and an expectant look in her eyes. Sometimes there are two dogs patiently waiting for the nice Gringa who gives them food. Of course I feed the dog or dogs. While they eat, I check the Hummingbird feeder. Most mornings they too are expecting more food. Sheesh! Everyone’s so needy here in the morning! Hah! So I climb the little step stool and take down the feeder, bring it in the house and refill it. I always keep at least 3 or 4 plastic containers of hummer food in the fridge ready to go. As soon as the feeder is replaced I get rewarded by a flurry of action from my gang of hungry hummers. They buzz and fight and fly all over , enjoying their meal. Then I smile. My day has begun….