Double Dad Day and Hang Them In the Louvre!

Happy Friday! I can hardly believe how nice it is today. Here we are at about 10 am here in Philadelphia, and the temperature is currently 69 degrees Fahrenheit. Perfection. It's so nice to have the windows open, and to sit outside in the garden without feeling like you're roasting. 

Today is also a bunch of heavenly birthdays in our house. Our cat Tess, our calico, had a birthday on August 21. This is largely because we decided since it was already a special day, we'd give her this day to celebrate.

Because it's Double Dad Day - both of our fathers had birthdays on this day, isn't that a funny coincidence? My dad would be 110 years old, and I think The Tim's dad would be 93 years old. I hope there are a lot of celebrations happening in the beyond, and that everyone is enjoying them.

💖💖💖

This morning, sitting in the garden with Alfie and Katie, I took these two photos:

As you can see, Katie takes Squirrel Patrol very seriously.

This one amuses me because they are looking in opposite directions. 

I sent them to my friend Lisa, who is in love with our animals, and she texted back "OMG it's a series - hang them in the Louvre!" 

I told her that I wouldn't even consider it, because I know they would be stolen. 🤣🤣

Right now, we're all back inside, where Alfie is curled up in an old Chewy box with Esme - they established residency there about a month ago, so until they move on to whatever is next, we wouldn't dare recycle that box!

Katie and I are headed to the dog park for a game of fetch. She is obsessed with two things: squirrels and playing fetch. When we go to the dog park, she doesn't mind the other dogs, but she is there to RETRIEVE THE BALL. We usually stay for 20 minutes to half and hour, and then she is a happy girl for the rest of the day. We don't go every day - though if the weather agrees, The Tim takes her there on both days of the weekend. Which of course is another reason he is The Favorite.

Other than that, no big plans for today. I've decided to stop at the seafood market up the street to see if they have any nice-looking bay scallops for dinner tonight. I saw an easy but yummy-sounding recipe to try, and didn't have anything else in mind. I like going there, because you can get the amount that you want to get, instead of having to buy more than you need at any given time. I'll let you know if I try the recipe and how it turns out.

The weekend plan is to go to IKEA to find new living room rugs. We sent our nice rug to be thoroughly cleaned about a year ago, and then wrapped for storage until such time as Milo the Koodle departs this mortal coil, since it is his most fave place to pee. In the meantime, we have been buying medium-sized area rugs at IKEA that are under $100 and usually last us a couple of years (well, OK, others would probably replace them sooner, but anyway ...) If the weather is going to stay nice, I'll probably sweep and clean the garden one day, since there are lots of sticks and leaves and other pieces of nature that are making a mess, and getting trailed in and out of the house.

And that's the excitement here. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and feel free to join us tonight in toasting Tess the kitty, and Double Dad Day!

Furball Friday - Confused Cats Edition

When we had Dug, he would happily sleep in his crate, or even just go there if he needed a break from everything (unless a cat was already sleeping there).  Hamlet had never been kept in a crate, so we didn't even set it up for him.

When we got Angus, the crate we had was WAY too big for him, so we ordered a soft-sided crate, which is much more manageable and frankly nicer-looking. I mean, it lives in the bedroom so it's not something most people see, but it's still a nice one. Angus didn't always necessarily want to go in if we were heading out someplace, but if you put a treat in there, he'd go. And he knew it was where he would sleep at night.

Katie was allegedly crate trained, but in reality ... not so much. The first few nights we had her, she would let us put her there to sleep. During my first volunteer shift, I put her in there with a peanut butter bar doggie treat, as I used to do with Angus, and figured that for the couple of hours I was gone, it would be fine. This way, since we weren't sure how she would be when she was alone with the cats, we didn't have to worry.

So imagine my surprise when I came home and Katie greeted me at the door! Upon inspection, it was clear she had clawed her way through the mesh and got out through the hole she made!

OK, we get it, you don't want to be in the crate. 🙄

We kept it up though, becasue sometimes at night, she would go in to lie down at least for some of the time.

The cats however - who think that every single item in the house is first and foremost theirs - have no problem taking possession of dog items. 

Please note what this bed says, and the animals it depicts. Milo thinks it's very comfy in any case. 

Esme thinks the crate is extremely comfortable, sans dog.

So does Alfie.

Oh well ... I guess it's good that someone is using these things?

Have a comfortable weekend!

OK Here Is Some News For You

Hello again. I'm sitting here on a so-far rainy day that is supposed to turn into a 5-day heat/humidity wave which annoys me greatly. Yes, I know we have been lucky enough here in Philadelphia to have a nice long string of lovely days and perfect nights. But that only makes the prospect of having to go back to ick weather even more depressing.  

I've decided I'm done with this summer. I know there is still plenty left, and things to do, enjoy, etc., but it's all been a lot, personally and in the universe, as it were. I'm sure we'll all survive, but you have to admit, this whole universe part of things is more than exhausting, right?

Anyway, on to better things and some news I think you'll enjoy. 😉

Say hello to Katie (aka Katie Potatey)! Even shortly after we had to return Angus to the rescue where we got him, The Tim said he thought we should still try to get a dog. After a bit of thought, I figured it was worth another try, though I am still heartbroken. But as he pointed out, you don't want to close yourself off just because of one bad experience, when there could be other good ones waiting. So we thought that we would look for another dog to add to our family this fall, when the weather would be nicer, and our house - whose a/c is questionable at best - would be more comfortable.  

Then a friend who knew the story of what had happened, mentioned that an acquaintance of hers told her about a great dog who had been at a rescue about an hour out of Philadelphia* and was looking for a family. The owner of said dog had to give her up because they had a terminal illness, and no longer had the strength or the finances to care for her. 

Well, we certainly understand how hard it is/was to give up an animal, even when you are in good health; I told The Tim and we decided it was worth looking into. I filled out an adoption application for the dog, and the woman at the rescue called me first thing the next day to tell me that a) we'd been approved, and b) to talk to me about the dog. So as the Magic 8-Ball might say, All Signs Pointed To Yes.

That was all on a Tuesday morning. Since the dog was far enough away to be a bit of a drive for us, I asked the woman if we could wait until the weekend to come to meet her, since it would work better for us. She said that was fine. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Katie is 6 years old, half Wheaten Terrier and half Golden Retriever. She is pretty well-behaved - unless she sees a squirrel and then good luck to anyone with her - and she is also quite ridiculous.  Milo loves her - we haven't seen him so happy since before Pip died. You may remember that we got him for our first dog, Dug. So Milo has always had and loved having a dog buddy. And after Pip died, he was kind of bereft, since they were buddies. And even though he gets along with Alfie and Esme, they are pretty much glued to each other most of the time. Katie is not 100 percent sure what to do about Milo's friendship, but she is fine with it. 😊 Alfie, who used to love dogs, growled at Katie first thing. So she is afraid of him, and Alfie takes full advantage of that, 24/7. Esme would clearly like to get in One.Good.Sniff of Katie, but of course is too afraid to even really try. So cat-wise, things seem to be working out fine. We always tell any dog who joins the family that there are only two rules in our house:

1. The kitties were here first.

2. You have to be nice to the kitties.

Katie is doing fine on this front.

She is unexpectedly cute - I mean, her face is cute enough, but she is kind of a low-rider, which is amusing in itself:

The woman at the rescue told me that she LIVES to play ball! And she wasn't kidding! Other than squirrels, Katie's philosophy is that Ball. Is. Life. Her favorite kind of ball is the kind with spikes on it, but any ball is a good one.  The woman at the rescue also told me that she carried around one ball all of the time, and the woman said she thought it was an Emotional Support Ball. 😃 

It's true - Emotional Support Ball (aka ESB) is a constant now in our household. The Tim mentioned that ESB was looking a bit worse for the wear, so we'd best make sure we knew where we could find another one. I took a picture and asked Google Lens where we could get one, and fortunately they are $3.99 at PetSmart! So when this one heads to the great ball pit in the sky, we can easily have another on hand - phew!

(ESB in its current condition)

Katie hasn't been here very long, but she seems to be a real keeper. She weighs about 35 pounds, so she is not very big, and we've had some success getting her to obey some basic commands. I suspect she already knew them, but during the time she was at the rescue, had a large field to be outside in, and so didn't need to understand walking on a leash anymore. One thing interesting about her is that she is not really food-motivated, which has never ever been the case with any of our other dogs. Not that that's a bad thing! 

She seems to be happy to be with us, especially The Tim, who if you have not intuited before, is always the Good Cop. She enjoys going to the dog park, not for the other dogs, but to play ball of course! And we took her to the vet who said her previous owner clearly took good care of her. 

I recently sent the woman at the rescue a text with the picture of Katie above, telling her that she seems to have settled in well and that we are loving having her. I said I wished her former owner could know that - not that it would make things better, but that maybe it would be some small comfort. The woman said she was going to forward the message, so I hope it was some comfort to the person who had to give her up, and who seems to have more than enough on her plate. 

One thing funny to us is that Katie is from Scranton, PA - home of both Joe Biden, and Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company in "The Office." The Tim says he just hopes she didn't live before with a character like Dwight K. Schrute. 😂

So that is the latest news from here, and the story of Katie joining the family. 

I will never stop loving Angus, and I still cry missing him more than words will ever be able to express (I'm crying now), but she is a wonderful distraction. ❤️ And I hope with every part of my being that Angus is as lucky now as she is. 

*An hour outside of Philadelphia = The Wilds/Terra Incognita to us! 🤣🤣