Cat House

You gotta love neighbors. One of ours is very particular about his property. VERY particular. I'm being diplomatic here, so work with me. Our neighborhood is transitional. It was once quite nice, and then quite scary, and now is seeing a very welcome resurgence due to some significant investment on the part of the nearby University and the inherent charm of the era in which the neighborhood was built... think gumwood trim and leaded glass and beautiful hardwood floors. This particular neighbor and his wife have lived next door for forty years or more, are older (about retirement age) and they are very alert to all things going on in the vicinity. Are you getting the picture?

There are quite a few stray cats around here, and while the Mr. and I don't feed them, we are happy to have them take refuge in our yard. We've never had a mouse in the house and that's saying something up here! Our neighbors all around seem to feel differently. Some even set traps and take the captives out to the country to get them away from the neighborhood. Now... over the last couple of months, we have come to realize that someone in the house next door has taken to putting out plates of food for a litter of kittens that cropped up over the summer. This behavior is definitively out of character and really kind of sweet.

Imagine my surprise when I looked out of my bedroom window last week and see this sitting in my neighbor's driveway:

Less "Build it and they will come" and more "If you keep feeding them, they'll never go away so you might as well build them a tiny house for the winter." What you are looking at there is a kitten house, custom constructed in the same yellow vinyl siding and black shingles as the house and the garage and the storage shed. It has since been moved to the side of the garage where it sits like a proper little addition. I wonder if they got planning permission for that?

Etsy Adventures

So that funky apron that's been sitting in the sidebar for months has finally made its way to my side. Adam's mom surprised me by giving it to me for my birthday - so exciting!

We made a long-weekend trip up to Montreal to celebrate my birthday and hers, had some good food and good company. It's funny, no matter how much I want to make any trip, by the time I crash out at the end of the first day away, I just want my own bed and my own cats to cuddle.

I suspect my adventuring days are waning, or at least the adventures are evolving.

The cat and groom have lived together for 10 years.

Oh. Wow. Check it out.

How many days until...?

Gratuitous cat shot!

It takes so little really. New Miss Marple series out on DVD next week and Chipotle is coming to Rochester next Friday. BBC and barbacoa... this is way harder than waiting for my birthday!

My New Favorite Blog

Meet Maru...

Spring Is... hmph. Still a Long Way Off.

Kitty pic! Just because.

It seems like there just isn't much to report these days. I saw the sun last week. And some of my spring bulbs tried to come up. Unfortunately, after a brief run of days in the 50 degree range, we are back to brrr. My nose is cold. My feet are cold. My fingers are cold. And in an effort to save money, my employer has turned the thermostat down to 68 degrees. They won't allow space heaters, but I wonder if they'd let me stash a cat under my desk...

The Mr. has been very industrious in the attic of late. He tore out and rebuilt from scratch a built-in bookcase along the front wall. I wonder if he'll rent me some shelf space for my overflow? Why can I never find enough shelves for my books?

And, we've discovered a couple of new favorite BBC series. Midsomer Murder and the Last Detective. Both have sufficient humor and cozy quality to offset the contemporary crime drama curse.

That's me for now. Slow news day.

Note to Self...

When you put cream on a cat's leg without covering it with a bandage (because said cat has somehow sprouted four extra legs), the cat will lick the wound even more... hmmf.

My Day Off

Things I did on my day off today:

• Drycleaner. Check.

• Post office. Check.

• Gas station. Check.

• Grocery store. Check.

• Played with iPhone. Check.

• Nap. Check.

THEN

• Made lasagna.

• Took a "Thanks but No Thanks" call from a prospective employer. Hey, at least they called.

• New batteries in the thermostat so I can TURN THE HEATER ON, cuz it's officially Fall now...

AND

Nori had her follow-up vet check. Two more weeks of soft foods, because she somehow popped her stitches. And now, in addition to her twice daily antibiotic, I have to put cream on her leg (six times a day) where they shaved it last week, because SHE WON"T STOP LICKING IT and it's all raw and angry.

Do I know how to live it up or what?

Poor Nori...

Oh my poor kitty! She had an appointment this morning to have her teeth cleaned. In spite of her gluttonous intake of prescription dental kibble and tartar control cat treats, she needs occasional professional tooth care. Last time she had a cleaning, they took out three teeth. This time, they took out more. More than three that is. Cat dentistry is about as expensive as people dentistry, except my cat isn't on my health insurance plan. It would seem that much like people, some cats (like my poor Nori) just have worse teeth than others. Unlucky in the genes, I suppose. Anyhow, she survived the anesthetic and had a good swipe at the tech through her cage door. They recommended we restrict her to one room for the evening, so I let her out of the carrier in our bedroom. She ran straight under the couch and hid. So, I went out to get her a snack and a litter box, and shut the door behind me. I kid you not - THREE SECONDS LATER - she was downstairs in the living room. Now she's curled up on one of the new chairs, recovering from the trauma. I'm REALLY looking forward to dispensing her medication tomorrow! Won't that be fun?

What on earth made me think that the day I take the cat to the vet would be a good day to take my car to the mechanic to get that "Check Engine" light evaluated...

Thanks EVER so much!

Filbert says a big thank you to the giver of the gift that arrived in this lovely cat bed... er, box.

Stellaluna vs. the Dark Knight

DanananaNananana DanananaNananana... BAT BEAN!

Give that cat a treat! My little pampered Nori-bean trapped herself a BAT in our attic. Big meanie that I am, I pulled her away from it and shut the bat inside the attic. I'm sure it knows a way out. It got IN after all...

Our story begins at 3:30 AM, and our heroine is asleep at the foot of my bed. Suddenly, I am awakened by two cats launching themselves full speed off the bed and skidding into the attic door. A flurry of... wings? and GOOD LORD WHAT IS THAT NOISE!!?! I launch mySELF off the bed (only because the Mr is away on business, otherwise I'd launch him) and into the hallway, running into walls and flipping on lights as I go. Only to find Miss Nori hunched over Something on the attic stairs. And she's OFF! Up the stairs and into another corner of the stairwell, amidst much squeaking and flapping from her prey (which I still cannot see). OK. I'm calm. Promise.

FLAPPING + SQUEAKING = BAT according to my calculus.

So I'm up the stairs, grab the cat, toss her back to the landing and slam the door. Lights off, back under the covers and I'm pretending that did NOT happen, 'cause I've got to get up for work at 6am. 12 hours later, after much input from the internets, BOY am I glad the cats are up to date on all their shots! Crunchy creature that I am, I'm waiting till September to serve the eviction notice, so I can be sure any potential bat-babies have fledged. The last thing I need on my conscience is dead bat-babies in my walls.

Two days later, the basement flooded. If anyone knows just what I did to annoy Mother Nature, could you give me a clue?

Road Trip

After a false start at 1am -we had to double back 45 minutes because we forgot to say goodbye to the cats- we're finally on the road. For those who haven’t heard, Kelly and I are driving to Dallas (via Oklahoma) to visit with family and work on the planning for our wedding. I’m not fully appraised of the program of events for the week but I gather it’s going to be a whirlwind of photographers, bakers, DJs, and florists. Since I trust Kelly’s taste in these matters, I’ll probably spend most of the time nodding supportively. I hope we have to sample some cake.

Our Furry Children

In reviewing photos for inclusion on this site Kelly and I realized about half of the shots we take are of our cats (that's Nori in the photo above). Since we haven't been able to put together any other decent photo albums this will be our first test of our new Flicker account. Drop us an email if you run into any problems.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9758236@N05/sets/72157600830093598/show/