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

This too shall pass, eventually

I'm completely down on my luck right now. After a Sunday spent, carefully dolling out what few pennies and dollars I had, after going over the checkbook Saturday during the Iowa game, I took a deep breath, opened my online back account and...

I'm overdrawn.

According to my math, which gets checked by two computer calculators because I just don't trust my dyslexia, I still had money in my checkbook. According to the bank, as of 3 p.m. yesterday, not only did I not have money, I am in over my head.

I don't see where it went, honestly, I don't see it. Everything that's showing up in the account is in my checkbook. I had it all balanced at the beginning of the month. Where does it go and why don't we match?

My poor savings account is just that, poor. There are 10 days left in this month, 10 days for something major to happen, like the plumbing to stop or the water heater to explode or the car to give out with something totally unrelated to the $750 in repairs I just made last week. I can't afford to get a flu shot because I have no money to pay the deductible. I can't go to the doctor and get a refill on my allergy meds because I can't afford to pay the deductible. Granted, we're coming into a time when the air gets crisp and breathing clears all those allergens I've suffered through for the last month and I really won't need the meds until, with some luck, next March, but still...

I stood in front of the fridge tonight wondering what to make for supper. I am grateful that, at the beginning of the month, I went grocery shopping and filled out the freezer and bought the things that I generally like having around for meals. Plus, all this cleaning of cupboards found my big bag of rice and the raisins and, with some curry powder and, oh look, slivered almonds, I have a supper of curried rice. Cats are good and I don't really NEED to go out anywhere. My game is paid up for 6 months and I have movies to watch and craft projects I can do.

It will be rough with no overtime and needing to right the financial ship at the end of the month. I still don't understand where all my money goes when I plan, down to the penny, where I can spend it. I have a job, which is better than many people also in my predicament. For that I am grateful. I will keep on keeping on, which, as Carole will tell you, is something the two of us learned how to do.

Beverage: Dr. Pepper

Deb

She's just beautiful.

When I got Pilchard, she had a small mat near her left ear. Val said to comb her every day and the mat would get worked out.

I tended to comb her every 2 to 3 days. She loves to be combed so I don't have an angry cat on my hands. Here she is last month. She looks so pretty.

Another small mat developed near her left "shoulder". Val gave me a comb so I've been using that pretty much every day in an attempt to comb out both of these. They aren't very big, maybe a half inch wide and a half inch long, but I know if I don't get rid of them, they can morph into something larger. Plus, I don't like feeling them when I pet her and I very much enjoy petting her. Both of them love to be petted, love ear and chin scratching.

Last week, I spent a good hour, several times an evening, combing Pilchard in an effort to break up the mats. Since she likes being combed, she was always cooperative, but I didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

So, I asked Jon, in the office, if he had a mat comb. I've seen it in catalogues. It's got a set of sharp teeth that shave the mat and break it apart so you can remove it or comb it out. He said, "Oh no. Don't use one of those. Get a metal-toothed comb and comb her. The plastic combs are for short-haired cats. Long-hairs need the metal teeth."

On Sunday, part of my shopping was to get a metal-toothed comb. I got the cheapest one I could find, brought it home and started combing.

Now, I need to remind you that Mija's motor can be heard in the next room. Pilchard has purred but not consistently. I start in combing and this cat reacts with what I would call "joy". Her motor starts and she wants me to comb and comb and comb. Obviously, she is loving this.

No, I still don't have the mats out although the newer of the two is smaller. I have to think this feels good to her. The smaller of the two mats has decreased in size for sure. The other one is the same size, but Pilchard lets me comb them in earnest, as long as I use the comb to scratch the chin. Combing the belly is problematic and I haven't gotten all of that combed, but we're working on it.

The side effect is that her coat just gleams and she is now incredibly soft. She was soft to the touch to begin with but this is a soft beyond that. I tell her she's beautiful when I comb her. Black satin is the closest thing I can equate her coat to. Pictures do not do justice to how this cat looks after I've combed her. And the fact that she loves it makes it so much easier to do. I think she also likes the interaction between me and her, the personal attention. I am thinking part of the hissing and charging and fighting I'm seeing is rooted in jealousy; one thinking the other is getting more attention. I tried combing Mija with the plastic comb, but she wasn't interested. Her fur is so short but soft, that a combing is a waste of time, although it would stimulate the skin.

So, I'll keep at this. It will probably take some combing but I think I can get both mats out. Jon said to cut them out and I was going to do that but when I got near Pilchard with scissors, she let out a very nasty growl that made me back up. "Okay, not gonna do that." If they are still there when I have to take her to the vet for a yearly check-up, Val can remove them.

The side effect of this is, when I got home last night, I just want to pick her up and cuddle her. "Ooooh there's my pretty girl," I said, when I walked into the living room. I had "that" tone in my voice, the tone that says, "Oh lord, here she comes and she wants to cuddle." Pilchard took off and went under the settee. "Nope, not gonna cuddle me." Mija saw me coming and took off into the bedroom. They have learned, very quickly, that to avoid being picked up and held except when they want to be, take off. I won't follow. I did get cat loves later.

Beverage: Huckleberry tea

Deb

Monochromatic Suburban Music

In shopping yesterday, I wanted to get a couple of jazz albums. They have had airplay on WDCB 90.9 FM. Granted, WDCB is a public station and is located in a suburban Chicago junior college campus, but the albums in question should have a wider fan base as they are current. It's not like I'm looking to replace my Fred Astaire cassette tape, although that would be a nice idea, replace all my jazz cassettes with CDs of the same album.

Does anyone even say "album" anymore or does that seriously date me?

Anyway, the mall where I was at only had one store selling any kind of music, f.y.e. I walked in and could not find the jazz CD's. They were way in the back corner. There were only two sections for jazz. It could be worse. I could prefer blues. There was only one section for that.

I was looking for Eliane Elias' Bossa Nova Stories and Patti Austin's For Ella. How hard can this be?

Well, maybe I should have looked to replace a couple of my Ella Fitzgerald tapes because everything they had would be considered either smooth jazz (gag) or born before 1935. The clerks were busy with customers so I was able to sneak out. I didn't want them to offer to order something because I don't want to have to drive all the way up to Woodfield Mall to get music.

The Pop/Rock section was huge. It was such a disappointment not to have any selection to even browse. I might wander over to the Border's here in Wheaton as they tend to have a larger selection of jazz versus Pop/Rock.

I remembered a store at Oakbrook Mall. It was nothing but jazz and classical music, about 2/3rds jazz and 1/3rd classical. At Christmas, I would take a note pad and write down my top 10 wants. There were always people in the store, but it closed after about 3 years. There was another one tucked away in a corner that was heavy into jazz but they lasted only 18 months.

It just seems the music offering in the suburbs is strictly what's featured on the top 40 radio stations. Shortly after Carole and I heard Old Blind Dogs on a public radio station in Iowa, we were able to go to Tower Records and buy their CD's The World's Room and Fit?. We ordered the rest of their available CD's through Amazon.uk. Now, I order them off the band's web site. But, if I were looking for something I heard on "Blarney on the Air" on WDBC on Monday nights, I'd be really hard pressed to find it through traditional outlets. There's a celtic music store in Villa Park, which is a 15 minute drive east, assuming I can remember where they are when I get there.

Maybe it's just my age and my curmudgeonlyness. I think it does a disservice to people when they aren't exposed to a wide variety of music. I was extremely lucky in having a father who loved early Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby and the like. My mother has this wonderful collection of 78's with jazz music from the late 1950's. These are songs you don't hear, not even on WDBC which play all jazz (except 'smooth', whatever that is) so has millions of songs available from the early days of jazz through today, as witnessed by the two CD's I linked above. Jazz is still very alive with performers recreating the standards and writing new and interesting material. Having this available to the consumer expands the fan base.

There's a reason Eliane Elias and Diana Krall pose seductively on the covers of their CD's. They know people will pick it up based on the cover alone.

The urge to possess these CDs has passed. I thought I would reward myself with some music and that was not to be. I did get something else not of the chocolate persuasion. I have Halloween M&M's with peanuts on top of the fridge so my chocolate needs are satisfied for now.

Maybe at the end of the month, I'll check on music. It's not like I don't have any music. If I played everything stored on my mac, it would take, currently, 5 and a half days to get through and I haven't uploaded ALL my jazz CDs to the Mac. Carole has more than me, I believe.

Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to do some writing to the dulcet tones of Artie Shaw's Greatest Hits.

Beverage: Huckleberry tea

Deb