The Adventures of Periwinkle and Stinky

 

Periwinkle woke up early and checked the Teleportation Tunnel to make sure it was ready for Stinky's arrival.  She hoped he liked what she had planned for the day since it was similar to what they did at his house the previous week.  She didn't have to wait long because there was a slight movement of the tunnel and, with the usual WOOSH, Stinky flew out and landed right into her waiting paws.   They whisker-kissed, paw patted and caught up on the previous week.  Soon, Periwinkle said, "I hope you don't mind our Adventure today.  We're kind of continuing what we did last week at your house.  Tomorrow is Earth Day, and I thought we would have that as our theme today.  Stinky smiled and said, "I thought that might be what we were doing when I saw our new logo."  Impurressed by his observation, Periwinkle continued. "Earth Day is our way to show our love for the planet by making small, kind choices.  First, we're headed to the garden center to get some plants."  Hopping back into the Teleportation Tunnel for time's sake, they arrived at the local garden center.

"Now remember, no silly antics," cautioned Periwinkle.  Stinky blushed and said, "I'll try, but you know how I like to climb."  Periwinkle rolled her eyes and crossed her paws that he wouldn't get into trouble, since she could see lots of places he could sneak off to. 

                                 

Stinky saw the look on her face and knew he should behave.  He went up to the large butterfly but didn't climb it which made Periwinkle happy.

Periwinkle couldn't resist a little boat filled with flowers.

"Those flowers are beautiful, but nowhere near as beautiful as you are!" said Stinky.  Now it was her turn to blush, and she thanked him, but she was pleased he thought she was beautiful.  She knew he was up to something when he ran off and just sighed when she saw he had climbed onto the roof of the Grow House.

He immediately got down but said he found out a lot about how plants were being started after talking to one of the employees...

"Dante has been busy making sure The Growhouse is ready for summer! He’s added a Solar Powdered swamp cooler to the space to keep our plants cool and happy as the temperatures rise. That’s right friends, our sweet little grow house is now solar powered ☀️

We are now up to THREE composters and have officially harvested our first batch of compost which went directly to Dante’s tomatoes. It’s rewarding to see our little kitchen’s scraps turned into the compost that nourishes our plants that we use to nourish all of you. What a beautiful full circle moment 🥰"

Stinky said they were starting all kinds of veggies to grow in the hot Florida weather.  

Before they left, they went into the Market where Stinky found Black Cat Coffee, which he thought was very cool!

One quick trip through the Teleportation Tunnel brought them back to Periwinkle's house.  They continued discussing ways to celebrate. Periwinkle was glad to hear that growing your own vegetables is one of the most impactful ways to celebrate Earth Day because it reduces "food miles"—the emissions from transporting produce—and allows you to control exactly what goes into your soil.  Periwinkle continued, "Here are other ways to be kind to the earth while planting.  My Mom uses raised beds since our soil is sandy."

• Regrow from Scraps: Don't toss those onion butts or potato eyes; many common kitchen scraps can be regrown in a simple jar of water or a pot.
• Build a Raised Bed: If your local soil is too sandy (common in coastal Florida), a raised bed allows you to control the soil quality immediately.
• Start Composting: Use your vegetable peels and coffee grounds to create "black gold" for your garden, keeping waste out of landfills.
• Plant a "Salad Garden": Lettuce and kale can still be grown in partially shaded areas to reduce the impact of the midday sun. 

Periwinkle showed Stinky 2 examples in her garden. "Here's a raised bed filled with tomato plants that Mom grew from scraps!"  Stinky was impurressed.

They both got excited when they saw that Periwinkle's Mom was planting nip this year.  They giggled and said they hoped it made it since her Mom was famous for killing the nip plants in the garden.

They didn't plant any trees, but they checked out the mango tree that was damaged in the freeze.  It still had lots of leaves that needed to fall, but showed new growth too.

Of course, we should think about water and energy use and turn things off when we don't need them, and reuse boxes and paper.  Stinky agreed that boxes should always be reused since they make fun places to hide and nap.  Periwinkle shook her head but smiled, knowing that was not really the way to recycle boxes, but it was the fun way for a cat to do it.

Stinky added, " Don't forget to recycle....

and take your reusable bags to the store!"

The tabbies were getting tired, so they took a short nap in a sun puddle.  They whisker-kissed and paw-patted when they woke up, and soon their tummies told them it was snack time.  "My Mom baked us some Earth Day cookies," said Periwinkle.  They headed to the backyard to enjoy the cookies and spend some more quality time together. 

After thanking Periwinkle's Mom for the cookies and visiting with her fursibs they took a few more minutes to snuggle and say I love you to each other.  With one last whisker kiss, Stinky hopped into the Teleportation Tunnel and headed home.  Periwinkle went out to check on the nip because she knew her Mom would forget!