Life With Kitten

The last time I had a kitten in the house was back in the late 1990's, when we adopted Betsy and her daughter, Rascal. Betsy had been someone's pet who was drummed out of the house. She took up residence in the wood pile of a former neighbor and had Rascal. We "met" her when she defended her territory from Shakespeare. She was a very loving cat.

Rascal, being born "in the wild", was feral when we came to know her. Through the summer, we worked with her to get her used to people and then to living in the house. We knew she had adopted us when I took Carole to school one day and then set out to do errands. Rascal got out and I wasn't about to chase her down. When I came back, at around noon, a neighbor said she heard a cat meowing at the back door to be let in. I opened the door and Rascal shot into the house, dashing under the bed. She stayed there until dinner, but, when she finished dinner, she went back under the bed. I didn't see her for two days outside of feedings. After that, she came inside when I called.

She had energy, but because a lot of her "kittenhood" was spent outside, we didn't see the bouncing off the wall that kittens do. So, it's come a something of a shock to me how much energy Hamlet has. This was driven home in October when there was an enormous crash in the living room.

Behold the remnants of a black cat candle holder. He was so scared of the noise and what my reaction would be, he went into the home office and huddled under the cedar chest for a couple hours. This really shattered so I wound up washing the floor, letting it dry and then going over it with packing tape to make sure all the shards had been picked up.

Since then, more things have fallen. I thought I had "kitten proofed" my house but now that he's bigger, he can jump higher. He knows "No" so I can point at him and sternly say it. I wasn't upset about losing this candle holder. I have quite a few. The onus really is on me for not looking around and thinking, "What would a kitten like to knock off because stuff falling is fascinating?"

Beverage:  Orange Juice

Deb

How Was Your Summer, Part 7

Mija and Pilchard were very unhappy through August and into September, as Hamlet learned the house. I've talked about how I know when I'm being "yelled at". The tone of the meow changes. I heard that alot.

The three of us were not prepared for a kitten's energy. He ran everywhere. He pounced. He jumped. He attacked. I felt, on some days, that all I did was break up fights. Pilchard, especially, was not happy.

I spent a lot of time saying, "Hamlet! No!" Sometimes I wonder if he thinks that's his full name. He took over Mija's spot in the recliner...

...which angered her to the point that she followed me around one day, for a full hour, meowing angrily. I sometimes felt I wasn't giving the girls enough attention. It's hard to spread myself equally when I see a belly just ripe for rubbing.

We had an issue with sneezing at the beginning of fall. The girls didn't catch anything so we considered he had some kind of allergic reaction to something.

He learned, by the end of September, what time I came home and I would see him in the window of the office, waiting.

Or he'd be by the back door.

This was very poignant for me because Rascal, who looks a lot like Hamlet, used to do this, too. Having been outside, he tends to try to sneak out, but he knows his name and he goes inside after my getting really mad at him for leaving the deck.

He follows me downstairs when I do the laundry, but when I say, "Hamlet, upstairs," he goes. He discovered the laundry chute and that's the best thing in the world. He goes down the chute and onto the top of the furnace where it's warm. He follows me into the bathroom and will come running from anywhere in the house if he hears me go into the bathroom. He likes to sit on the edge of the tub when I shower which can result, as it did yesterday, in him falling into the tub during the shower. I had to get another toothbrush because he chewed on the one in the holder. That's now his and I keep mine in the medicine chest.

Any food, ANY food, I have, he needs to see, smell, taste, touch.

I was worried because I caught him lapping down some of my room temperature tea. The vet said that's okay. He's also stuck his nose in my Godiva liqueur-laced hot cocoa, which is less good than tea. He doesn't get that cats don't eat a lot of things people do. If I'm eating it, kitten needs to investigate.

Things have slowly, slowly, settled down. During football season, when I'm streaming games on the computer or watching them on TV, he learned that mom gets excited and the best place was not the living room. It was really quiet one afternoon so I went into the bedroom at half-time and found this.

I was shocked as the girls appeared to not want anything to do with Hamlet. Two weeks later, I caught them doing the same thing. It's not all the time and usually when there are clean clothes, but this is still done.

And we all co-existed when we were all outside on the deck in those last warm days of fall.

He sleeps with me, usually next to my legs. Sometimes, he will climb on me, lie down and start purring. That lasts for about 20 minutes and he wanders away. He will also lick my chin which isn't all that appreciated at 2:30 in the morning.

We have made our peace. He recognizes Pilchard is top cat. He has a tendency to jump Mija, something I am trying very hard to break him of. I have caught both girls chasing him, Pilchard moreso than Mija. We've reached the point where he will see Pilchard in the hall and I'll hear that little trill cats make to communicate with each other. He'll lie down and the two will wrestle.

It's been trying. There is no question about that. I was unprepared for kitten energy. His nickname is "Kitten Britches" or "Britches" for short, but mostly I use "Hamlet" as I don't want him confused. My house looks like a pet store's toy department exploded. He started to bring balls back when I tossed them, but he hasn't in some time. I guess I need to work with him. They all did well when I went to Virginia in November. The guy I hired said they all came out to see him when he came to feed them. Hamlet is into big cat food now. I have to feed him in the bedroom because he will shove the girls off their dishes. I'm hoping he'll grow out of that.

I know I did right by this guy. For all the "Hamlet! No!", the boops on the nose, the chasing, the growling, the extra expense for food and vet bills, my life is much more with him in it. Thanks go to Becky for recognizing a plaintive meow and rescuing him. When he wants to snuggle, which the girls have never wanted to do, any and all stress I could have melts.

He's something of a celebrity within my World of Warcraft guild, too. "ARG! Life with kitten britches!" "What did he do now?" How could anyone resist that face? I sure couldn't.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

I Believe I Can Fly

The driveway to the south of the house has often been a gateway for wildlife to get from the backyard to the street. Since I don't have a garage, it's easy to run along the drive and make a left turn into the front yard. Rabbits use this all the time. One year, Carole had taken one of the garbage cans to the curb, turned around and saw a skunk in the drive.

Last night, I pulled in after work and got out. My eye was attracted to something brownish that seemed to fall into the drive along the house. It took me a minute to realize what it was.

It was a fledgling robin.

My neighbors have a large pine tree just south of the drive, off the northeast corner of their house. They also have a bird's nest at the immediate northeast corner, tucked between the house and the "S" curve of the drain pipe.

As I approached, the bird hopped along the drive to get away from me. I couldn't see a nest in the pine tree, but that doesn't mean it's not there. You can see that the rear feathers are not fully developed. All it seemed to be able to do was hop. After getting my picture, I left it be. I decided not to bring the recycling can back from the street because I'd have to maneuver it by the bird. It's in enough shock to have tried to fly and fell. It didn't need to contend with a human and a big blue recycling container.

This morning it was not in the drive. I walked it to be certain. I am rather thankful that I don't have outdoor cats. Betsy, Rascal, Shakespeare, even Penny or Half-Pint would have loved this. "Oooh, thanks mom. Dinner."

Speaking of dinner, there's been a morning visitor to the front yard.

I eat my cereal and have this guy staring back at me. I know they can see me because if I throw up my hands, he will take off. The girls will notice him but they seem uninterested. Squirrels on the deck, yes. Rabbits in the front yard, no.

I like that there is an abundance of wildlife, even of what could be considered a slightly mundane type, in my yard. As overgrown as it is this year, with all the rain, I'm providing a decent habitat. In return, a good habitat provides me with a healthier environment. Plus, when Mija is sitting on the magazine I want to read with my cereal, it gives me something to watch over my Cheerios.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Hi Mom! You're Home!

It's been three years now. Three years since these two came into my life. I know I talk a lot about how they have made me feel whole, but it's true.

Over the summer, Mija has started doing something I've found quite endearing. One of the things I missed, very, very much, after Rascal passed away, was her waiting in the living room window for me to come home. From roughly 3:45 to 4:30 p.m., she would sit in the window sill and watch. She knew the Jeep and when I would pull into the drive, she'd jump down and sit in the kitchen waiting for me to come in the back door. It was such a delight and, after she died, I often broke into tears in the drive way when that little face wasn't in the window.

Every cat has a personality. Pilchard is my diva. She walks into the room and meows at me to let me know she's here. She just has the air of "I'm the big cheese" about her. I have to laugh at that because she's really not the big cheese, she just thinks she is. She's usually in the living room when I get home, sitting in a box, waiting, with an air of "It's about friggin' time you wandered in."

And then, there's Mija. She's standing on the organ that is in the living room. Behind me is the kitchen. I come home and if she's not there waiting, she comes running and jumps up onto the organ and all the way to the top. I just giggle every time. There is an exuberance here. She "talks" to me, almost like she's says, "Hi! You're home! I'm here, too! Are you going to get us treats soon?" (They get treats in the morning before I leave and in the evening when I get home.) She is right there, reminding me, as if I needed a reminder, that she's happy I'm home and it's time for treats. I suppose this is kind of "dog-like", but it makes my day.

Beverage:  Edinburgh's Finest Tea

Deb

So I Wash the Rug

I don't know what it is about this rug. It was $5.99 at Meier years ago. Cats love to stalk it. It also tends to be on the receiving end of hairballs or other "leavings". I swear it's spent more time being washed than on my living room floor.

It was in the basement from yet another incident when the water backed up. So last week, I washed it. It's quite heavy so, in the spring, summer and fall, I wash it when I can toss it over the deck railing and it can dry that way. It takes a good 4-5 days to air dry in the basement.

I brought it up Saturday after returning home from an event. It was claimed, immediately.

The rug matches the colors in my living room so I like having it out. Betsy and Rascal used to love this rug too. They would attack it just as Pilchard does. 

It's really quite amusing. She'll stalk the rug, wind up and attack. Of course, because there is no backing on the rug, she and it will slide a few feet. Then she balls it up, chomps on it and rakes it with her back claws. This will get repeated for about 15 minutes. It was kind of hard to get a photo because both of them know the camera. When I would point it at her, she would stop and just sit on the rug. The second I put the camera down, though, it was back to an attack. I finally kept the camera in my lap. 

Mija just watches. I haven't seen her attack the rug, yet. 

Beverage:  Boston Harbor Tea

Deb

Maybe a New Phone is in Order.

I must apologize to anyone I've hung up on recently. This cordless phone has been a part of this household for over 10 years. That's a long time for a piece of equipment by today's standards. Lately, over the last month or so, it's become very annoying.

I had to turn off the ringer on this phone because it became increasingly louder even though I was turning it down. I can hear the phone in the kitchen from any room in the house (one of the blessings of a small house) so the ringer isn't really necessary. A few of the buttons aren't as sensitive as they used to be, notably, the 1 and the 9, but pushing them harder makes them work.

The problem that has developed is the phone's inability to retain a charge so it's actually working. It sits to my left in the office. I have already "hung up" on Charly who was understanding about the phone. I answer it and I don't hear anything so I think I've missed the call and it's gone to voice mail. So, I hang up when they are saying, "Hello? Deb? Deb?" I cleaned the charging contacts at the base of the phone and in the phone rest but that doesn't seem to have fixed the problem. It seems to "pop" out of charging easily and not because a cat walks behind it and knocks it out of the cradle. Yes, Rascal and Betsy used to do that regularly. Mija and Pilchard aren't interested in sitting on the printer as those two were.

It could be something simple like a new battery. I'm going to try that route this week. If that doesn't cure it then I will probably need a new phone by the end of the year. It's so aggravating to be anticipating a call, hear the kitchen phone, grab this one, answer and...silence, or that annoying beep that says the thing isn't charged. If you call me and I "hang up" on you, please give me 5 minutes to yell at the phone, reposition it and calm down. I don't mean to be rude, unless you're a solicitor and then I'll be as rude as my DNA allows.

Beverage: Orange Cranberry Juice

Deb

Well that answered that question.

It was the end of the day on July 4th. I had spent the day at the keyboard, writing. (More about that in another post.) I had done some wash and dishes and a few other things to keep my mind active, but the bulk of the day was spent in the word.

That evening, I logged onto my game and was running around this pretend world with guild members when there came a need for more tea in the mug. I walked to the living room and Pilchard was sitting on one of the rugs in the living room. The way she was sitting, kind of how the cat in this photo is sitting, drew attention to her because she doesn't sit this way.

It was dark. It was after 10. Fireworks were going off around the neighborhood. She wasn't moving. I came close to her and she growled at me. Now this is extremely unusual. That's when I saw the tail. She had a mouse. Pilchard had caught a mouse in the basement and brought it upstairs to play with.

Now, beyond the obvious, "Oh lord, I have mice in my house" is the amusement that she actually caught it. She was not happy with me for wanting to "see" it. I tried my most soothing, "Pilchard, sweetie. Momma is proud of you but I don't want a mouse loose upstairs." She wasn't buying it. She chased it around part of the living room. She growled at me if I attempted to reach for it and she really growled when Mija came out of the bedroom to see what the fuss was about. It wasn't a very big mouse, a mere morsel to her, but that's really not the point. The point is she hunted and caught prey.

Eventually, she knocked it out and I was able to swipe it away from her by covering it with a towel. I tossed it outside. It was gone the next morning. Who knows if it was just stunned or consumed by something else. She still looks for it and will look at me and meow as if to say, "Have you seen my toy mom?"

I guess that answers the question of would they know what to do with prey if it came near them. There is the issue of mice in my house. Rascal would, on very rare occasions, catch one in the winter in the basement. This is a first for one in the summer. I'm not sure where they got in and I haven't seen mouse droppings in anything so I don't know where she found this one. I grew up in a big old Iowa farmhouse. I know what mouse droppings look like.

No. I'm not rushing out to get a trap. Part of me thinks this is an isolated incident. Plus, as long as I catch either of them with the mouse, I can toss it outside. They are much better mousers than any trap I can get.

Beverage: English Breakfast Tea

Deb

Funny the things you get attached to.

When Jon, from the office, was moving to a smaller place, he couldn't take everything with him. He gave an office chair to the office and said chair has been used by several people. I was going to pitch one of those floor lamps that gives off "natural" daylight. I needed a floor lamp so I took it.

Now, I don't know if it's really the sunlight spectrum. I just know that I have it here in the office next to the computer. It does brighten up the room and is great for gaming, particularly at night.

The only thing is, if the bulb breaks, you can't run to the store for another, at least, I haven't been able to find them at a store selling light bulbs.

In theory, if nothing happens to the bulb, they will last years. In practice, when a spider drops down from the ceiling into your field of vision while you are sitting at the computer, the chances of you jumping up and knocking over the floor lamp to your left are quite large. This is the second time I have knocked the lamp over. The first time, I was cleaning and bumped it. I tried to catch it but failed.

The bulbs are $20 and then you add shipping. I ordered it online last Saturday and it was here yesterday. The lamp is fully functional again. I missed it. I missed that bright white light it gives off. I don't know if it improves my mood, I'm moody with or without light, but I do think it brightens this room. Because it sits next to the office windows, at night, the light illuminates part of the deck. I think that's been responsible for keeping critters off the deck and scaring the cats, although these two don't hang out at the back door like Rascal did.

Now, to not knock it over...

Beverage: grape pomegranate juice

Deb

Something I Haven't Seen

This morning, I'm talking with my friend, Tonia. I'm supposed to go into the city, where she lives, tomorrow. But we are in the middle of what may be the last gasp of winter. (See the post below.) My windshield wipers are not working. Best assumption is that the motor for the wipers needs to be replaced. Preliminary estimate starts at $175, which, as you might suspect. I don't have. So, I must refrain from driving any place when wipers are necessary for vision. How do I get to work? It's a 2 mile drive which I can do by using side streets up to 3 blocks from the office. I drive slow. I pull over and wait if I can't see. I just need to get to the end of the month and pay day to see what I can not pay this month to get this fixed. Yes, life is, for me, a juggling act. There is some light at the end of the tunnel but it's going to be a struggle to get there. I feel getting the oil changed and the wipers fixed as we head into spring and the rainy season trumps paying certain bills.

But back to the reason for the post. I'm sitting in my home office which overlooks the back yard. I am not wearing my glasses. I had been lounging in bed, playing with Mija when the phone rang. I gaze out at the back yard festooned with snow, and my eye spots something on the neighbor's fence. I'm very certain it wasn't there last night. I put on my glasses and see this.

Large birds perched on the neighbor's fence are not usual in my neighborhood. I think it was 4 years ago, I had a hawk perch in the tree which would be to the right off this photo. It was late March then too.

Tonia and I chatted for a good 45 minutes, all the while the hawk just sat there, occasionally scratching or preening. After Tonia hung up, I got the camera and was able to snap a couple of photos.

It hung around for another 30 minutes after I finished my conversation and then took off. I don't know that my yard is a hawk-friendly environment although rabbits, as we've seen, live here, and Rascal used to catch chipmunks that lived under the neighbor's air conditioning unit. I had mice make an attempt to come into the house last year, but, once again, Rascal saw to their disinvitation. Maybe there is enough food for a raptor. I'd welcome the bird.

But just what kind of bird is it? There are a lot of red-tailed hawks in the Chicagoland area. They like to nest in or near open pit rock quarries. They are redder than this bird and have more brown on the chest. They are also larger. When the bird took off and flew over the house, it did not have the distinctive red tail of the Buteo jamaicensis, red-tailed hawk. I had a suspect, however.

Over 10 years ago, a pair of Cooper's Hawks made a nest in a tree next to the home of one of Carole's friends. It was a grand summer, watching them nest, and rear and send 2 young hawks into the world. We would stand on the roof above the entry porch with binoculars and watch as a parent would bring home a rabbit or some other food item and these two, rather ugly chicks would clamor for food.

I looked up Cooper's Hawk and I believe, based on the description on the page linked, that's what the above is. I think this is an adult although I don't know the gender. Scouting my yard as a possible housing location? As I said, I wouldn't mind.

I liked the Cornell University Ornithology Lab's web description much better than Wikipedia. Back in the 1990's, I was a member of their Project FeederWatch. Four months out of the year, you watched, for a week, the activity at your bird feeder, counting and identifying all the birds that used it. It was great fun and, as I was home during the day, I could devote a morning or an afternoon to just sitting and watching. When I went back to work, I didn't have the time to devote to this. The feeder fell apart and I have never rejoined the effort. There are times I think about it, particularly now as the birds who overwintered are joined by those who went south. But until I reestablish a feeder, I don't have many visible birds in the yard. I hear them, but I'm not good at identifying bird calls, except for that stupid robin who sings way too loud in the summer.

There was a link on the side to a program called eBird. In clicking on it, I discovered it's a way to submit bird sighting information to the Cornell Lab. A few clicks and typings later, I had submitted my sighting of this bird. I didn't see a way to transmit these photos, but I'm sure, if someone wants to see them, they will contact me.

I've always felt raptors were good luck. I love driving back to Iowa and seeing Red-tails, Cooper's, Northern Goshawks and Broad-winged Hawks and the occasional Bald Eagle along the road, either perched in nearby trees or sitting on the power poles scanning the ditches for meals. They are all majestic birds, beautiful in flight and provide a very necessary niche in our environment. Perhaps having a hawk eyeballing my back yard is a sign that life will, in fact, be better this year. I'll take it as a good omen.

Beverage: English Tea Time

Deb

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Carole will tell you. I recycle. When the City of Wheaton announced that they were going to try recycling in certain neighborhoods, I called and wrote letters to the mayor and my representative asking that my neighborhood be chosen. The idea that I could not recycle my paper or certain plastics to reduce my refuse stream bothered me. There were times when I would recycle something accidentally, like the form to renew license plates which had to have been tucked inside something else. I used to have a stack of all sizes of boxes in the basement. We could ship or wrap just about anything because there was box the right size in the basement.

While I am still fanatical about recycling, indeed, I bring home the paper, plastic, bottles and cans from the office because we don't have recycling in our building, I don't save boxes anymore. We get enough stuff shipped to the office in varying sized boxes that I don't need to save 'elventy-twelve' different sizes. So, as I find them, I'm tossing them in the recycling container.

Except this one.

This is the box which contained the cocoa and peanut M&M's from Daniel in payment of the Orange Bowl bet. This box has been commandeered by the cats. Both of them use it. It is perfectly cat size and both of them love to lie down in it. That brightly colored item in the box is a 'mouse' missing its tail. Rascal loved to toss these things by their tail and that was always the first part to disintegrate. Mija and Pilchard love to chase it around the box.

When I come home or they are in a particularly playful mood, one of them runs and jumps into the box to sit and then lie down.

So, long after the M&M's and the hot cocoa are gone, I will have the box. As I said in an earlier post, it's a good box, a sturdy box. It's going to last for a very long time.

Beverage: Ginger Ale

Deb

Resolutions a month later.

Time to take stock of the resolutions.

Read a book a month.
Failed. Oh well, there's always this month to get started.

Read a magazine a week.
Big success. What's come of attempting this is a wonderful cat ritual in the evening. I come home from work and either get dishes or a load of wash started. Then, I grab the top magazine off the stack and sit down in the settee with a cup of tea. Pilchard jumps into my lap and settles down for chin and ear scratches. Mija comes into the living room and jumps onto the other chair. I read for about 10 minutes and then get the fishing pole cat toy and play with her for about 15 minutes. Last night, she was particularly active and very funny, pouncing on the string. Pilchard purrs up a storm. On occasion, she'll jump down and play, but, for the most part, she just wants my lap.

We sit for about 30-45 minutes and then I get up and continue with dishes or whatever else I need to get done. I've often come back to the settee, particularly if all I'm doing is dishes. There's something magically calming about having a cat in your lap. I have managed to finish 6 magazines doing this.

This has translated into Pilchard claiming my lap while I am gaming. Penney, Rascal and Betsy would do this, too, and I've wanted either Mija or Pilchard or both to sit in my lap. Mija's not that interested, yet. Pilchard actually hops up into the chair next to me and meows until I let her climb in. The problem is that the angle of my keyboard does not accommodate such a large cat. Oh well, I'll deal with it to have her happy.

Write a friend a real letter once a week.
Fail. I owe a number of people letters.

Add one more fruit or vegetable to my daily diet.
Successful. I'm out of fresh so I am drinking juice and going through the frozen veggies I have. Finances being what they are, when these run out, I may not have any cash to buy groceries so this resolution will be put on hold temporarily. Today's lunch is a cheeseburger and frozen peas and carrots with applesauce.

Pay off one credit card.
I'm slowly getting there. I didn't make one major payment this month and got everything caught up. I'm having major problems with my financial service that holds my IRA. I cannot get my tax information online and I want my taxes done and my refund back. I'm just angry enough at this company that if this is not resolved today or tomorrow, I will look at pulling my money and putting it somewhere else that has a web site that works.

But, I was able to, this month, make a dent in debt which is what I want to do. No, it doesn't help the refrigerator manufacturers or the local bookstores, but I have to get things under control. I still don't know what it is that I do wrong and it makes me feel really stupid when I can't figure out why things don't balance.

Pay for everything with cash.
Success. It helps not to have cash and to know that you have only $6 to use for the month. You cut your wants down to needs and then to absolute needs and then to life or death needs.

Don't get down on myself.
Sort of successful. I have always been my worst critic and even though I had years of therapy, I still find that voice is extremely hard to turn off.

So there have been successes and there have been non-successes. I'm not calling them failures because of the negative connotations associated with the word "fail". There's always this month to pick up where I left off and "Ease on down, ease on down the road".

Beverage: China Black tea

Deb

Free Toys are Best

It's a very cold day today. The high has been 14 with a wind out of the northwest. That makes a windchill in the negative numbers. Clear, brilliantly blue skies however. If you could stay out of the wind, it would probably be comfortable, even with the air temperature.

I'm ever so grateful that I have cats who are scared of the outside. Betsy, Rascal, Half-Pint and Shakespeare would have wanted to go outside in this. They would have stayed by the back door and meowed to go out. "It's sunshine, mom," they seemed to say. "I must be out." You can tell a cat that it's too cold to be outside, and there is the very real danger in extreme cold, of a cat's foot pads freezing. But, the cat will look at you and you know he or she is just laughing, if cats could laugh. Some times, we would let them out knowing that they would go as far as the deck, realize it was cold, and come back in.

It's still quite chilly in other parts of the house, however. I have the small space heater keeping the office reasonably toasty. I should go make muffins which would warm the kitchen. Pilchard is asleep on the rug in here with me. Occasionally, we hear the scuffling of someone having fun. We both look up and Mija is chasing something through the hallway. She's having a grand old time. I think I can safely say they have settled in fully now.

I get up to go see what she's so enamored of and it turns out to be a rubber band that fell onto the floor. She's chasing it up the hallway and back, occasionally getting it stuck behind the food or water dishes. She comes to the office door and sits looking at me when she chases it behind the ottoman or the settee or into the front closet and can reach it. She doesn't meow, she just sits, looking at me.

You know the feeling. Someone is watching you. I turn and it's a cat. How do I know she needs assistance in retrieving her toy? I don't really but she's looking at me and so I get up and she runs over to where the rubber band is and I realize that's what she wants. Once unstuck and dropped on the floor, she happily chases it around again. She did that for about 45 minutes and is now asleep amongst the sheets on my bed.

Yup, when I die, I'm coming back as the cat of a middle-aged lady.

Beverage: China Black tea

Deb

You get the door. I'm going to hide.

I know you're interested in how the cats handled their first Halloween with me. Trick or treating in Wheaton goes from 3 p.m to 7 p.m. If you are handing out, you are to turn on your porch light.

At 3:15, I turned on my light. The first treaters, 2 little kids accompanied by their parents with grandma and grandpa dutifully digitally recording the walk up to my door, arrived at 3:25. The footfalls on the front steps got the cats attention. After all, I was sitting at the computer working on a budget (Talk about a job requiring chocolate.) The doorbell rang. Pilchard jumped to her feet and raced me into the living room, jumping on the table in the room from where she could see out the front windows. Mija slunk quickly to the office closet, her early hiding place. When I opened the door and Pilchard heard the tiny "Ticer teet", followed by a male voice saying, "What do you say to the nice lady?", she took off for the hallway. She sat there until I closed the door.

Mija never came out during my entire trick or treating session. For me, it ran from 3:25 to 6:05. At 7, I turned off the light as I saw no one, not even the high school students who like to roam in packs on this evening, on the street north or south. I had almost 40 kids, only one Michael Jackson but he did have the military jacket, glitter socks and one glitter gloved hand. Most of the treaters were, I would say 4th grade to age 4. I always like the look on the little one doing this for the first time. You can practically hear the brain saying, "Now, all I have to do is stand here and she gives me something?"

Pilchard got brave when she realized these people weren't coming into the house. She would just sit on the table and look out. I did hear a few kids say, "Oh look! She's got a black cat!" If there were more than 3 or they made a lot of noise, she would jump off the table and run back to the office. I do think both of them were quite happy when this was all over. Shakespeare and Half-Pint used to come to the door and we'd have to be careful not to let them out. Everyone else hid while this event occurred. In the evening, both came and spent time in my lap. I think they just needed reassurance that this was an isolated event.

It's been a quiet day today. They have followed me around the house as I've finished some small tasks. Lots of ear scratching. I'll take the chocolate to work where I can eat it when I'm bored. It's been awhile since I've had chocolate at the office. The candy dish on my desk has been used for tea bags. And, you'll probably wonder if I am who I am, but I'm not rushing out to get 50% off Halloween candy. I shouldn't spend my money on that and I don't really need it. I can bake chocolate items. I have chocolate cookbooks. I should pick something new and try it. Any takers on sampling finished product?

Beverage: Slightly flat Coke

Deb

Cat feet

File this under totally random blog posts...

My cats have interesting feet. Pilchard's feet are big as she's a big cat.

They are bigger than a quarter, probably closer to half-dollar size. And because she's a long hair, there are these tufts of fur between her toes. I try to comb everything, including legs and feet. I'm very glad she's an indoor cat because having to pick mud or dirt out of these feet would be awful.

Mija's feet have an interesting coloration.

All of her feet have white on them with the back ones having more, almost a 'sock-like' effect. I find her front feet to be very interesting in color, how the white is distributed.

I'm trying to get them used to my touching their feet and pushing gently to expose the claws. Val said clipping nails was quite the "adventure". Other than Rascal, I never had a problem clipping anyone's nails. With Rascal, I would get her when she was sleeping, doing 2-3 at a time. Both of them growl when I hold their feet, but I figure, the more I do it, the more used to it they will become and then we can clip nails with ease. Fortunately, the Pilchard scratches can be covered, but they both need a clipping.

Fog can come on little cat feet, just not with claws.

Beverage: Dr. Pepper

Deb

Staking Space

It's been an extraordinary cat weekend. As the post below mentions, I finally reorganized to put all cat ashes together. So painful. I held each one and remembered something about them.

Shakespeare loved to play fetch with these rubber balls we used to get at a local drug store.

Penney loved to come up next to me when I was sitting on the bed getting dressed and rub her face against my shoulder.

Half-Pint loved to jump up your body to get to your shoulders where she would sit down.

Betsy loved to sit in my lap any time I sat down.

Rascal loved to catch anything and everything and bring it in the house to play with.

Now new personalities have taken up residence. Meeha has claimed the hallway. This means you must walk around or step over her. It is written that one does not move a cat.

Both have vied for my attentions over the weekend. They squabbled this morning as I made breakfast; growling, hissing, spitting. I sent Meeha to the bedroom. Meeha claims my bed and my affections when I'm there. She curled up with me under the covers for a time this morning. Betsy used to do that but Betsy would go to sleep. Meeha just sat there purring. She also came into the office and sat in my lap, purring loudly, while I played the game.

Pilcher claims the living room and the table with my craft project on it. She's going to be horribly confused when I take that table down when the project is finished. She spends all her time on that table, sitting and sleeping. Maybe, eventually, I'll get them both in bed with me with no hissing and growling.

They now come into the kitchen when I go in there. They have figured out the kitty treats are there. I don't give them treats as Val did and they seem fine with that.

Hence, although there was sadness and much tears as I put the others' ashes in the secretary, there is joy. I am a cat person and being without was like a hole in the universe. That is filled and they are the most wonderful cats I could have gotten. I guess Val knew they would take to me quickly. I am thrilled that they have.

Beverage: Assam tea

Deb

Together Again

Finally, I moved everyone to the secretary. It was not without lots and lots of tears. I found Half-Pint sitting on the bottom shelf of the secretary. I thought Carole had taken her west.

Left to right, Shakespeare, Penney, Half-Pint, Betsy and Rascal.

They are all together again. I miss each one so very much.

Beverage: English Breakfast

Deb

A Year Ago

Chicagoland had been rained on day and night for some 4 days. We received something like 17 inches over a 4 day period. It began on September 12th and didn't quit until the evening of September 15th. If it wasn't pouring, it was overcast and drizzle.

I had a guest at that time. I'd met a guy and he flew to Chicago for the week. The weather on the 12th prohibited his arrival at 2 p.m. It was 8:30 p.m. before he arrived.

I thought we had a marvelous week. We went out to eat a lot, in spite of us going grocery shopping Saturday, dodging a torrential rain. We went to Milwaukee to watch the Cubs play the Astros because the Houston area was going through a hurricane. We went shopping for souvenirs. We went into the city so he could say he'd been to Chicago. We went to Wrigley Field.

Over my objections, he bought tickets from a broker so he could see the Cubs play the Brewers at Wrigley Field. I never found out how much he spent.

He spent a lot on me. There were the meals we ate out. He bought some computer equipment so he could set up his lap top. He bought groceries and a couple of souvenirs. He paid for gas. I tried to pay for a few meals but he refused to allow it. I was giving him a wonderful week and the cost was minor compared to his vacation.

We parted at 5:00 a.m. at O'Hare on Friday, September 19th. His delay getting here had earned him a free ticket, as he had given up his seat for a woman to get home to her daughter. He swore Thursday night that free ticket was to come back to see me, in April probably because October to March was the busy time for his work.

I wanted to believe him. When I kissed him goodbye at the airport, he held me close and said, "It will be soon. I promise." It was all I could do to drive home through the tears. Betsy and Rascal liked him and were a bit confused that he wasn't in the house now.

The days passed. He stayed in touch for a week and then total silence. He had been the guardian of his sister's two boys. The oldest had gone to live with his father in Las Vegas that August and that weekend was a weekend of sloppy conversation over the computer and my just being at my keyboard while he vented. Still, he had the youngest who had made it clear he didn't want to go to Vegas.

Something happened that first week of October. I don't know what, but communication stopped. Emails and phone calls went unanswered. I sent an email toward the middle of October saying that I would box up the things he'd left behind and there were a few, and ship them back. Plus, I had calculated the cost of what he'd spent on me and would begin paying that off. I wasn't going to be seen as a gold-digger, or worse.

I got a reply and he begged me to hang on, that he would be better and I just needed to be patient for a couple weeks, or through the first of November. He would explain as much as he could then, but right now, it was too raw and he didn't want to be seen as a complainer.

The first of November came and went. Nothing. Again I sent an email saying he was to expect a box and again, there was a, "No please don't send me anything" email in return. His mother's birthday was, I think, November 12th. He mentioned he needed to shop "for someone special whose birthday is at the end of the month". "I need to make up for being such a slimeball," he said.

My birthday came and went. My daughter and my girlfriends remembered. Ten days later, he contacted me to say he was considering a promotion. I know it's petty, but I mentioned how Thanksgiving was lonely because I spent my birthday alone. He fell all over himself apologizing for missing it when he specifically had referenced it right after his mother's birthday. Then he said he had to go and would not tell me when we'd next talk.

That was it. I boxed up half of his stuff and shipped it back. A week later, I boxed up the rest and shipped it back. He contacted me Christmas Eve. He was drunk and his nephew was in Vegas visiting his father. He said he missed our conversations. He missed how understanding I was, how wise. But he wouldn't give me a date for when we'd next talk. There were always excuses.

I issued yet another ultimatum in January. On the 26th, he sent an email saying that he knew I would do whatever was best for me. That was it.

I fell. I fell hard. Girlfriends will vouch that I spent many, many nights crying myself to sleep. I never believed anyone could like me for me and he claimed he did. He was the only man I had ever considered moving from Wheaton for.

I have dreaded this week and the memories that would dance with it. Having the new cats has helped a lot because my energy is directed toward them. There has been more drama within my WOW guild and I haven't done a good job of dealing with that. Sometimes, my people skills leave a bit to be desired. I try but it doesn't always come out as nice as I would like. So, I have been able to keep the memories at bay.

But tonight, knowing that this marks the end of the week that he was here, the memories are like ripe apples waiting to be picked. I've been listening to Nat King Cole all evening. One of my favorite albums is called "Night Lights" and there is a song on that album called "Sometimes I Wonder". I have played it quite a bit tonight. These lyrics catch me:

Sometimes I wonder when I'm deep in memory.

If you ever give a little thought to me.

And while I'm under this old magic spell of you,

Sometimes I wonder if you ever wonder, too.

Beverage: Cold Assam

Deb

Found you!

Now tell me, isn't that a cute face?

This is her hiding place, on top of a pillow in the closet where my sweaters hang. I come home, poke my head in and say, "Hi, I'm home." Meeha will come out of the closet in about a half hour. Meanwhile, Pilcher is out and wanting ear scratches. Meeha will stay out now the rest of the night and into morning until I get ready for work, then she goes back into the closet. Someone does come out during the day because, as Betsy and Rascal used to do, the rugs have been "attacked" and wadded into a ball. You know that is the main purpose of floor rugs, right? They exist to be attacked by cats.

Beverage: Robert the Bruce Scottish Style Ale

Deb

If I can't see you, you don't exist.

Before going to bed last night, I checked on the new family. Couldn't find them. Now the basement is closed off so there's no chance, I think, of them getting down there. And not wanting to stalk them, I thought I could just go to bed without trying too hard to find them.

But, worry got the best of me. I looked in the few crannies in Carole's old room. Nothing. I hadn't heard anyone leave that room, but these are cats and we all know cats walk so quietly they can pass by and not be heard. I wandered about, looking under things and peering into the nooks. I took a step into the closet in my bedroom and heard a hiss.

Okay, they are behind the tee shirts or at least the vocal one is. I assume, since I can't find the other that they are both there.

This morning, I did my usual routine. The litter box hasn't been used and I don't think any food has been eaten. I'm hopeful they will come out this morning and snoop around. I know it's frightening. New smells, lots of new smells. I'm sure my house is quieter than their apartment since I don't watch TV. No carpeting on the floor.

It's hard for me to be patient. I have cats in my house. I want to hold and cuddle and scratch and have someone in my lap. But I do remember that it took Rascal a good 6 years to come to me for ear scratches, 8 years before I could pick her up without snarling. I just have to trust that soft words and a safe place will win over "What are all these smells?"

Beverage: China Black

Deb

Home

I was in Iowa today to get those two machines in Fort Madison up and running again. Gorgeous day, simply gorgeous. The driver's and passenger's side windows are off. I have to remember to grab a towel to wipe off the dew in the morning. It's not supposed to get as chilly; 45 instead of 41.

I went to the clinic and picked up Betsy's ashes tonight. She's home with Rascal and Penney and Shakespeare. I so wanted there to be a face at the back door. I so wanted to see Rascal in the living room window as I pulled in the drive. I wanted to hear the familiar meows of cats complaining because I had been gone all day; leaving early and getting back late; and they were hungry and I'd better do something about it rightnow.

There were more noises over the weekend, little things. Maybe it's Betsy and Rascal saying they are happy. They are with Shakespeare and Penney and Half-Pint now. Betsy and Penney and Half-Pint can find all the spots of sunshine, lie in those and never have to worry about getting stepped on or having to move because the sun moves. Shakespeare can sleep in his very own papasan chair without anyone moving him. And Rascal can sit in all the windowsills she wants and watch for me to come home.

Tonight, I miss them all so very, very much.

Beverage: water and tears

Deb