Birthdays and Valentines

Well, there is a certain member of our family who is turning 5 years old today - and is quite pleased about it:

At the moment, he is curled up in the spare bedroom on a stack of clean towels that need to be put in the linen closet.   Did I mention they are warm, just being out of the dryer?  In a few minutes, I'm headed downstairs to make a cup of tea for myself, and then there will be kitty treats for the birthday boy.  Which will make warm towels sooo last half hour ...

Today would have also been Garden Kitty's 11th birthday, and we all wish he was here to celebrate.  Also, it was the birthday of Junior, a little black kitten I found long before I ever thought about starting a blog.  We had him for only a week when he died.  So it's a bittersweet day for us, but we are trying to make sure that Jetsam has a good birthday, since he is such a good boy. 

Also, it's Valentine's Day:

And though I have a lot of special valentines, here's one that makes me especially happy this year:

Sorry for the tiny picture, but it's the only one I have.  This is, of course, my great-nephew Zach, who turned 5 years old on February 8.  He is wearing the hat I knit for him, and according to this picture, and reports from his mother, it's a big hit.

In my next post, I'll tell you all the details about the hat, and have a few more pictures.

In the meantime, why not toast all of our birthday boys, and pay some extra attention to your own special valentines?