spring is here

And it's bottlebrush season again.

There are these huge shrubs overhanging the outdoor parking spaces in our complex. They're native to Australia and they're known as bottlebrushes because their flowers look like this. There's quite a lot of them in these parts, and I remember them from my childhood as well.

Every spring, they drip sap and goo down on to anything underneath, like a parked car. Fortunately this only happens for a couple of days, and I use the occasion as an excuse to go have my car washed. This year, the annual long conversation with the employee at the head of the line over which of their multiple offerings I want revealed the existence of an option to get the doors and dashboard and all the other hard interior surfaces washed down with soap without also spending hundreds and hours to have all the seats shampooed, so I took that along with the basic outside wash.

After the bottlebrushes are finished dripping sap, they start shedding their little red needles or stamens or whatever they are for a while, and those get all over the car instead. Turning on the windshield wipers for a moment after getting on the freeway is usually enough to cause any of those still on the car to fly away in a whoosh.

In another news, feline ailments continue to soak up most of our medical attention. The vet says Pandora could use more fiber, and suggested canned pumpkin, if she'd eat it. I wasn't sure where to find that in the market - it wasn't with the canned veggies - until I remembered it'd probably be used mostly for pies and looked in the baking section. Mixed a spoonful in with Pandora's regular food, and she gobbled it all up. She's been shy on foods when under distress, but she's never been one of those "only what I had when I was a kitten is food, and all else shall be ignored" cats.