For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Hi everyone! It is another beautiful, sunny day here, although it is a bit on the cool side with a temperature of 21F (-6C). There is a light wind from the northwest as well and the temperature is going to dip downward to 3F (-16C) overnight. But that sunshine is so nice to see and my plants agree, they are loving it too.
Speaking of plants. My plants are pushing out new growth, some, like my aloe plants, are blooming nicely. This is the first time I have had aloe plants bloom for me. This is also the first time I have tried growing different varieties of aloe and not just the regular aloe vera that everyone loves to have around. I have aloe vera too, one large about 2 feet (60cm) tall, one medium about 16 inches (about 40cm) tall, and one tiny new offshoot which is only 4 inches (10cm) tall.

Apparently the aloe vera will bloom too, but I have never been able to get mine to produce flowers. I did finally find out that one of my aloe plants is called White Fox, the flowers were the final key for identifying that one. My four hoya plants are also doing great, growing a lot and producing many new leaves and long new stems. I wonder if one of them will produce a flower or two this year.

Two of them are old enough now that they could bloom, though they may not be quite mature enough yet. It can take from 3 to 7 years before they are mature enough to produce flowers. Two of mine are about 4 or 5 years old. I have a humidifier now which I have fairly close to the plants. It’s best not to have it too close though since it does produce a temperature difference which can harm some plants.
Speaking of winter. I am definitely waiting for spring to arrive. I’m just not a winter person anymore. Winter is not just cold, but it can be dangerous too, producing bitter cold that has killed people here this winter. Plus it produces very slippery conditions that make it dangerous to go out walking around, even for short distances.

Speaking of cleaning. I have begun my spring cleaning again. I know it’s early, but I want this out of the way so when the nice weather arrives I can spend the time outdoors. Actually, all that I’m doing is dusting my apartment, but with all my stuff it takes a long time. Especially since I have to do things so slowly now. But, it helps give me something different to do this time of the year when I don’t get out as much.
Speaking of cats. It’s quite amazing really, but after 2 months I still miss my Muffin. It still seems odd not to have her name on my posts anymore. And not having her on my lap while I’m trying to type. Or sleeping with me at night with her head on her own pillow, right next to mine. I guess eventually I will get used to not having her around.

Speaking of rearranging things. I am doing that also as I dust my shelves and everything on them, then I am rearranging things to give a totally different look around here. Well, maybe not totally, but it will be different anyway. Oh well. Something major coming up in our apartment building again as well, but more on that later. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve. ©2026 Steve McLeod.
We had finished our drive to the city and were now in the basement of what appeared to be a nightclub. We came in the back way and there were no signs or anything to let us know what the building was, but I am assuming it is the nightclub owned by Swann and his partner Herbert Williams. Unless those 4 men are working for someone else, perhaps a competitor of the owner of this nightclub. I’m thinking too much again.
I’m glad that Friskie is here with me though, it would have been much harder if they had taken Celestine and I. At least Friskie can fight back and take care of the two of us, although I told her not to fight at the beginning because I wanted to see who these men are working for and why he wants me. After an hour a pleasant young woman came in with a tray of food for us. This should be interesting since we are handcuffed at the moment.
“If you two promise to be nice,” she said, “then I am allowed to take those uncomfortable bracelets off you.” “I promise to be good,” I said. “And you?” she asked Friskie. Friskie looked at me. “Yes, I promise too,” she said nicely. “Good, it’s so much easier to eat when you can use your hands,” said the woman, smiling, “sorry, but no knives are allowed, so I cut up your meat for you, I hope the pieces are the right size.” “They look fine,” I said, “thank you.” “Yes, thank you,” said Friskie.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she began, “but I have to stay until you’re finished eating. The door is locked and Big Ed won’t unlock it until I call him after you’re finished eating.” “Do you enjoy working at a nightclub?” asked Friskie. “The pay is great,” she said, smiling, “this is the only place I’ve ever worked and Mr. Fiske is a nice guy to work for too. You will get to meet him soon, be nice to him and he will be nice to you.” “What’s your name?” asked Friskie, “Or am I not allowed to ask?”
“It’s Venus,” she said, “no big secret, my mom said she used to daydream about going to Venus, it just seemed to her that it was a real secretive world of beauty. That’s all when she was a kid and when she would one day grow up and have a baby girl, then she would name her Venus. So, here I am.” Venus and Friskie kept talking and I just ate quietly for the most part, though I did make a few comments. At least we learned one thing, there is a new man involved in this case, a Mr. Fiske.
I wonder how he fits in this picture? I tried to communicate with Sky, then Angel, then Kitty, but I knew it wasn’t getting through for some reason. Is there something in here that is jamming my ability to send out communications? Or is it something else? I haven’t really been feeling completely back to normal since I was hit by that weapon designed by Toledo. Guess I really should have told Jennifer and Kat, they likely know by now that I can’t be reached. Sigh.
Friskie had checked our food, more precisely, my food, to make sure it wasn’t poisoned or had any kind of drug in it. She can tell just by sniffing the food, just like our cats do it. Once we were finished she called Big Ed who unlocked the door and Venus left with the tray of dishes. Then he told us to come with him and he took us to see Mr. Fiske. The four men that kidnapped us were in the office too. “My name is Albert Fiske,” said the man behind the desk, “play fair with me and I will do the same with you. But, give me a hard time and you won’t like it.”
“Well Mr. Fiske,” I said, “we are already off to a bad start, I don’t like to be threatened when I haven’t done anything.” That’s when one of those men came over to me and was about to slap me, but suddenly he couldn’t move his arm. “My arm, it won’t move!” he exclaimed. “Lucky for you,” said Friskie calmly, “don’t ever try to hurt my husband!” “Look who’s threatening now,” said the man. “Your boss started it,” she said. “Maybe you would like to fight Wong here,” he said, “he would break you in two.”
“He wouldn’t be able to touch me,” she said firmly. That’s when Wong started coming close to us. “Don’t be a fool Mr. Wong,” she said. But he kept walking and suddenly he kicked, very fast, but Friskie grabbed his foot, twisting it and tossing him to the floor. He got up right away though and really went into action, but so did Friskie, and Wong was soon lying on the floor, out cold! Two of the men pulled guns but immediately dropped them screaming that they were hot as fire! “Did you call us here to fight, or talk?” I asked Fiske.
“To talk,” he said with a smile, “I have never seen anyone able to take on Wong and win. Congratulations my dear. Now, let’s get down to some serious talking. You have been hired by a woman named Elenore to stop Swann from taking her house from her, correct?” “Well, sort of,” I said, “she hired us to find out who was behind all the strange things happening around her house and yard. She didn’t know that Swann was behind it all.
We know he is, but haven’t gotten proof yet, and even if we did, he likely wouldn’t get any jail time for what he has done, not if he has a good lawyer anyway. However, I’m quite sure he is involved in some other ‘activities’ that could put him in prison for a longer period of time.” “You are absolutely right about that last part,” said Fiske, “and that’s where I might be able to help you.” “If you want to help us,” I said, “all you had to do was talk, you didn’t need to kidnap my wife and I.”
“Yes, I am sorry about that,” he said, “but I didn’t want Swann or Williams to know that I was helping you, so this way worked better.” “What about that character beating up my good friend?” asked Friskie angrily, “He didn’t need to do that!” “I didn’t know about that until now,” he said, “what about it Stanley?” “Well, yeah, Wong did get a bit carried away,” he said, “but I don’t know how they knew about it, unless that Venus gal told them.”
“She didn’t say anything,” said Friskie, “your boss was listening and watching us the whole time.” “And how do you know that?” he asked loudly. “We are private investigators,” I reminded him, “we are trained to notice such things.” The other two men were still trying, unsuccessfully, to pick up their hot guns…
To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.