Hi Guys, long time, no type! I had a delightful time down in Virginia with The Schmenkmans!! I left Detroit Metro Airport with my carryon packed inside my big suitcase, and landed at Dulles International a mere 53 minutes later. It actually took Schmenky longer to get to the airport from her house!
We began with lunch and a little shopping in Manassas, as we do. We discussed goals, a new black purse for her, shoes for me, as usual. And so it began!!!
One of the first places we ate was Spelunkers, in Front Royal!!! I have missed it so! Delicious cheeseburgers and fries, get in ma belly!!!! I have got to get Honey there!
So very juicy!
The end result!
We were greeted by Miss Miracle upon arriving on Sassy Cat Hill.
Schmenky was so committed to finding a new pocketbook to replace her tattered, broken zippered Precious, that she threw it away! There was no choice but to find a new one. A moment of silence for Schmenky’s heavily worn handbag. The hunt was on.

She brought out a red Tiganello beauty she had purchased thrifting one year, which did an admiral job, but it is red, and it does not go with everything. I am sensing familiar territory here 😉 On the bright side, she also found several super cute tops that she could wear with the red pocketbook! It was all good.
We Sweet Frog-ged around but this one in Warrenton was my favorite, it had my 2 favorite flavors, pomegranate AND Key Lime!!!!!!! With crushed waffle cone available, it was a happy day!
Here are a few of the sassy cats. This is Kismet (aka the Lion King), who was much friendlier with me than he usually is, and Casey Lee Bumgartner who LOOOOOOVES the back of my head!!! I think he has a powerful attraction to Paul Mitchell hairspray, and he loves me up good!
Poppet, our Precious, wobbly girl 🙂 She never changes, maybe sleeps a little bit more. She is my ever present lap buddy.
Bitsey Bee, having a sun room nap.
Schmenky and I enjoyed Spelunkers so much that we talked Mr C into joining us on Sunday afternoon. It was just as yummy the second go round. We really wanted their frozen custard, but alas, no room.
Next stop, the new Han Solo movie! We all liked it a lot, I have no idea why the critics are dogging it! Honey and the Ab-Cat saw it in The Mitten and had the same favorable opinion. Not sure about the amount of money they expected to make, but pretty sure it did alright for any other movie that was not Star Wars. Give us a break!
And then we went back to Spelunkers to have that ice cream!!!! No pictures but I am here to tell you it was heartily enjoyed!!!
This is the view out The Schmenkman’s front door. There is always so much green there, beautimous!
Schmenk had this in her flower boxes, can’t remember what she called it but I am a fan. Like faincy clover.
The natural arch down to the backside of their property and the chicken coop.
All the interesting colored foliage.
Backyard pond. The koi thought I had something for them besides an iPhone taking pictures!
We cut hair early in the visit because we were both highly in need. It gave us more time for tweaking 🙂
BOO for having to wait so long to get a haircut!!!
Sassy haircuts: check!
AND A SASSY NEW BLACK PURSE-CHECK!!!!!!!!!!!! She found a new Precious at Gabe’s, it’s a Sak and she was very happy!
The morning routine, with helpers. Checking the stuff, Facebook, playing Words With Friends, Crushing the Candies, you know, the usual.
The Schmenkman’s have a new sassy since I was last there, meet George Bailey! He found Schmenky on her walking trail. He is a lucky kitty-witty! He reminds me of our Seymour, a feisty, spicy, trouble causing, young boy catten! He lives to jump the others and just generally disrupt their apple carts. Sounds familiar.
Personality plus, it is their saving grace.
I forgot my selfie stick, so we had to kick it old school and hold it. Before we knew it it was time to pack up all my purties, bargains, and random purchases and head back to Dulles. We had a great time, but once again faced the harsh reality that we are not the spry, all day shoppers we once were! And we are mostly just fine with the realization ❤
We are SO glad to have each other! I thank the Lord that she answered an ad to work at Images Salon ALL those 30+ years ago so I could have her to love!!! I have known her longer than my kids!!!
This was George Bailey’s favorite way to greet me, and it served as our goodbye. Loved meeting him!
The Schmenkman’s are considering moving from Sassy Cat Hill to Sassy Cat Farm, location to be announced when found! So I felt like there was a very real possibility that I may never be on the Hill again 😦 So Schmenky graciously posed on the front porch of their home of many years. Bittersweet to be sure.
One of my favorite purchases this year was a sassy cement kitty. It was fairly heavy and I was unsure I would have the room or weight allowance in my suitcase. Schmenk said she would bring it to me sometime when she came. I purchased plenty, but I did have some extra room in my carryon, so I packed it on in! I had also bought a salt rock nightlight for the Florida house, that I needed to take out of its box for space purposes. I didn’t want it to get crushed, so I wrapped it in a bag and stuck it in the hallow inside of the cement cat, then covered the cat with some clothes for protection, and off we went. I wondered if that dang cat was going to get me searched. I went through security myself, all was well. My carryon went through and the gal spent a good bit of time looking at the X-ray, then pulled my bag off the conveyer. Another gal came and told me they were going to run it through again. I said OK, and thought my next move would be over with them to unzip my bag to be searched! I could tell when my bag was again stopped in the machine. Both gals were there looking and talking and one of them stood up and yelled “do you have a light up cat in there?” I laughed and said pretty close!!! They seemed proud of themselves for solving the mystery and passed me through 🙂
I was super glad they wanted us to check our bags at the gate, I wasn’t looking forward to lifting that cement laden carryon into the overhead compartment!!!!
There she is! My Virginia Sassy cement kitty!!!!! And my BEE-you-tiful peonies from the bush my Mama gave me ❤

Thanks for having me for the last 23 years Schmenky Catherine, love youuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!