Keeping with the theme...here's the 11th century Powder Tower next to the Beaux Arts Opera House with some more modern buildings in between.

sabbath7....Your kitty is gorgeous! Thank you for taking him in! Black is not an easy color to find adoptions for....

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Italian pole beans Trionfo Violetto: Even the vines are purple.

Nicole- I didn't know about black cat's and that it's hard to adopt them out until I tried lol! My husband is allergic to him so I tried to find him a home and NO ONE would even consider. I love him so much, and my husband deals with him and takes allergy medicine if he is sniffling too much. Often though I find him in my husband's lap! I LOVE black cats! They are special to me, so mysterious. He isn't going anywhere :)

sabbath7...:0) Good for you! He looks very happy. A good match for sure! I hope to see more pics of his good looking self here.....

Sabbath, your cat is beautiful. I LOVE all black cats and have had many of them. Thanks for giving him a good home and please give him some loving for me.

Nicole- one last thing, so sorry to keep posting. I took him to the vet to get him fixed and his shots, I told the vet no one will take him they think he is bad luck, but really he is the most sweetest, and easy going cat I have ever met. The vet said he is a Maine Coon and they are SO SWEET! I often whisper in his ear those people had no idea that they were missing out on the best cat ever!! I whisper that to my cat not the vet lol!

Sabbath, we have a Maine Coon as well. I see you shave yours. That's not a good idea, to shave cats and even dogs. They're double-coated for a reason, to keep protected from the sun and heat. Shaving just lets the rays get to their skin and they can get sunburned, plus there's no heat protection.

Jasdip- thanks for the tip! I have been shaving him because his fur gets everywhere and my husband's allergies, but I will reconsider now.

Your cat seems to say, "Yeah, you're lucky I chose YOU". :)

I really like the photo of the amphitheater jim. Always been drawn to ancient Roman history and such. Thanks for posting. Have you been to Rome? I would love to one day.

Alsiande, I used to grow the Trionfo Violetto beans! Every year I'd send for the seed from an Italian veggie seed catalog I know longer remember the name of. One time I grew yellow wax beans and Violettos on the same trellis - I had some yellow beans with purple splotches. The Vilettos can grow very tall, once they grew right up into the apple tree of which a branch grew close over the trellis. I used to have a photo but not sure where in my files that is.

sabbath7....he's a beautiful boy! Your very lucky to have found each other. :0) I would love to see more of him...

Thanks Sabbath! He really is a beautiful boy. I love black cats.

I always thought cat allergies were to the dander, not the fur. The dander is the protein left behind in the saliva from when cats lick themselves...so shaving wouldn't necessarily stop that. I too have never shaved a cat except for when the vet did it for medical reasons.

We too had a black med. hair boy. Now we have a tuxedo. I have no problems with black cats, but I do want a cat with a tail.

Schoolhouse, this is my first year with them. I've been growing Kentucky Wonders for about 40 years, and a few years ago added Rattlesnakes. I found the Trionfo Violetto seeds at Agway, of all places! They had a nice display of seeds from Italy.

in the downtown OKC area

Everyone's allergies are different, but years ago I read that people can be more or less allergic to a cat depending on its color. That certainly has been true with me. I've had many cats over the years (presently five). I can bury my face in the fur of the black cats and the orange cats, but you won't find me doing that with grey tabbies or tortoiseshells. But with any color, I've learned not to touch my eyes after petting a cat.

I found my first Violettos at a hardware store. For two years they had an amazing seed rack with different varieties of veggies not usually grown around here and some from Italy. Then they stopped. That's when I ordered a catalog online and from then on purchased from there. You know that they turned bright green when cooked right?

Aren't Rattlesnake beans also mottled purple? I'm curious now. I wonder if all this time I thought I had planted yellow wax beans that crossed with the purple, when I bought Rattlesnakes beans instead.

Yes, Rattlesnakes are mottled purple on green. Dragon's Tongues are mottled purple on yellow, but I think they're bush beans.

Oh, and yes, I know they'll turn green when cooked. I've had purple bush beans that did that. It's too bad, really. :-)

Sundrops

Have been to Rome and will be there again in November. So much to see and never enough time.

This amphitheater was built upon in the 5th century (as I recall) and it wasn't until whatever structures were there that the amphitheater was 'discovered'. It took several years to get it done. There is a wonderful museum that is adjacent and it is all in downtown Cartagena.

If anyone ever gets there, get some hot chocolate at Valor's sidewalk cafe.

Jim...that chocolate looks very rich! ? It's almost black! I'd have to get the full monte with whipped cream, like in the last pic!