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! 🤣🤣

And A Good Time Was Had By All

How and why is tomorrow the twelfth day of Christmas? Why does it have to go so quickly? Yes, I ask myself this every year, but I never have a good answer, because the answer that time goes on is just unsatisfactory in this case. 

But we've had a good time this Christmastime.

As expected, Santa came and brought the kitties a lot of good stuff!

Milo in particular was *very* excited.

It was hard to convince him to wait for the others.

One of the packages had catnip toys with silverine in them, which apparently made them even more irresistable than if they had only had catnip. Milo got things started, but Alfie helped out, and so soon the package was nearly unwrapped.

Once everything was opened, it was time to chill for a while. 

Alfie was particularly interested in one of the packages I opened that had a LOT of ribbon on it!

Esme split her time between watching us open things and looking at the squirrel on the chair right outside the window into the garden (if you look over her right shoulder, you can see the squirrel's butt).

Christmas Day was lovely, and all of us had a good time. We just enjoyed being together, and had treats, listened to music, and then later in the day headed upstairs to watch a couple of holiday shows we had recorded.

We have been enjoying the season so much, just being able to be together, but also having nothing really demanding to fill our time. We had a very quiet New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, and if you ignore certain activities of certain people who think they are going to rule the world, you could say it was all perfect.

Two more wonderful things: on both Tuesdays before Christmas and before New Year's, there was only one kitty left to be adopted where I volunteer. They were each especially sweet, and I was sincerely hoping that they wouldnt have to spend Christmas Day and New Year's Day alone. Well, they each got adopted - one on Christmas Eve by a woman who stopped by when I was there on Tuesday and was in love with the one kitty left - and one on New Year's Eve - adopted by another volunteer, who had a cat who had died over the summer, and didn't want her other cat to keep being lonely. I have to tell you, those two adoptions just made my holiday season! And it also seemed like a wonderful way to end the year. 

I sincerely hope that your holiday season contained even just a few moments of joy and happiness. The world is on fire, so it's more important than ever to find good things wherever and whenever we can.

And Then Monday Morning Arrived ...

In the last post of Bridget Tries to be a Responsible Pet Owner, we had the story of Alfie, who enjoys a trip to the vet every time he goes. Today's post is called Milo the Koodle and the Visit to the Vet.

Well, it almost didn't happen, because I could not find said cat. I tried several ruses, and then decided as a last gasp to give all the cats some wet food and see if he showed up. Which he did, so I grabbed him mid-meal (which made me feel terrible, but desperate times and all that), forced him into the carrier, and we headed over the vet's office. 

Fortunately, we were one of the first appointments of the day, so we didn't have to wait. The vet tech took apart the carrier, pulled him out, and they wrapped him up like a Koodle burrito. They managed to do a thorough check up, take blood, and give him two shots. Fortunately for them, he was so scared and so wrapped up, it happened without incident. And then we came home. Total time from when we left the house: 40 minutes.

And then, once out of the carrier, he gave Alfie and Esme a good whack, and disappeared again. The rest of us went on with our days.

I was reading, and about 3:45 p.m. he reappeared and jumped up onto the armest. 

I went to pet him and he growled. So I left him alone, and by about 8 p.m. he was letting me pet him again. And since I woke up this morning, it's clear he didn't kill me overnight - phew!

And so now we are safe for another year, unless something terrible happens, which hopefully will not. Everyone made it one more time.

The End. 

*****

Today is our 47th wedding anniversary. We are planning to go out to dinner tonight, but since The Tim is working today and tomorrow, we have no crazy plans. Our weekend plans to go look at chairs for our TV room didn't happen, because I had a serious reaction (as usual) to my Covid vaccine, and was completely out of commission. But the chairs are going to be our anniversary gifts, and we are both anxious to get new ones, so it will happen sooner rather than later.

And that, my friends, is the excitement around here. I have an FO post for you, but want to be sure to wait and be certain the item is received before I write about it, so it will happen soon. First though, I need to mail the package. I find that helps with the person receiving things ... 🙄

This Morning vs. Monday Morning

Alfie and I just got home from his annual check up at the vet. Needless to say, a very thorough bath was necessary. But other than that, Alfie was and is quite pleased. He doesn't mind being in the carrier at all, and sees the entire thing as a chance to be social, and then visit with people who are completely interested in being with him. They talk to him and make a fuss, they give him treats, they let him sniff around the exam room - I mean, what's not to like? Yes, he got a shot, but no biggie. 

And that's this morning. Then there will be Monday morning, when Milo the Koodle will be making his annual visit. Let's just say it ... won't be pretty. For anyone and everyone involved. I need to spend my weekend preparing for the trauma that will be felt not just by Milo, but by me. Because not only will I be seen as the enemy who will be trying to get him into the carrier and then taking him to the vets, but when we get home SOMEONE MUST PAY. 

Send prayers. 😉

You may ask, well, what about Esme? Well, what about her? At some point, I'm hoping that she will let me get to the point where I can pick her up, but right now it isn't happening, so we're just lucky that for all intents and purposes, she seems healthy.

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" 

*****

Anyway, this too shall pass, and hopefully with minor injuries to me. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the rest of today, and likely do some knitting in between the other house chore things I want to accomplish. Can you believe that at this moment in time, I have only one project going? I can't remember the last time that was the case. I'm enjoying it, and making a lot of progress, but I also think this weekend I will cast on at least another pair of socks.

Meanwhile the other afternoon, I knitted a pine cone for my fall garland:

This was the fiddliest little item so far, but it didn't take that long so it wasn't like something I was trying to work on all day long. 

Next up will be the pumpkin, and then I'll start over again. I think I would like to have at least two of each thing on the garland, so I'll see what it looks like once I have that amount - maybe I'll need a few more! But in any case, I'll have fun making these little things, even once the garland is done. Because they are the perfect little spurt of paying attention but not for too long.

The Tim especially wants me to make a green pine cone to see if it looks like a tiny Christmas tree. I'll let you know.

I'm so glad that so many of you commented that you also like to put up decorations for yourself to enjoy for holidays. It's nice for once to not be an outlier on something! 

In other news, I *think* fall is finally here to stay in Philadelphia, and I couldn't be happier. Cool sunny days, and chilly nights are so wonderful. Though it is supposed to rain later next week, which is actually good since there is a serious drought happening. And unless I have to be out in it all day, I actually enjoy rainy days. 

Next week is our anniversary and also Halloween. And then November will be starting, which I'm sorry, just seems crazy. Originally, we planned to take a trip next week somewhere to celebrate our anniversary, but neither of us did much about it, so we'll probably go out to dinner someplace that's nicer than usual for us, and that will be nice. We have agreed that for gifts, we are going to buy ourselves some new chairs for our TV room. The current ones are at least ten years old (probably much older), and frankly I'm surprised they are still in one piece. So one of these weekends - maybe even this one - we'll look for replacements. I always think it's fun to get new furniture or a rug or something in a room - it makes the whole place seem different!

And that, my friends, is the excitement around here. I hope all of you enjoy your weekend, and have a chance to do something you really like or want to do. See you next week!

Sometimes It's Just Dumb Stuff ... and, A Birthday!

Hello and Happy May! I hope the month has been good to you so far, and that if you ventured to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival this past weekend, that you enjoyed yourself.

I've been away longer than I had planned to be, but fortunately, I should be able to keep up with things going forward. My unintended absence was due to just dumb things - you know, things that crop up unexpectedly and take up your time and then all of a sudden you realize that you have not come up for air, and it's for no really good reason? Granted, I was sick for about three days with an intestinal bug, which was unpleasant, but also nothing I could do anything about. But the rest of the time, I was putting out little fires everywhere, or having to do projects that I had not planned or expected to do right now. 

Annoying, but in the past, so that's definitely a good thing!

Anyway, I've been reading, and planning my knitting, after taking way too long to decide on anything. I think when I'm in the midst of Dumb Stuff, I shouldn't try to plan anything. I also decided on a stitching project, and got the materials together, so all I have to do is get started. I also swatched for a knitting project, and actually after I'm finished with this post, I need to measure my swatches (2 of them) to see what needle size works better. 

The kitties are fine. Milo the Koodle has been on a real tear lately against Esme. He always chases her, but he's been going out of his way to do so in the past few days. And then when you tell him NO, he hisses at you. Jerk.

However, today is a special day because it is Hamlet's heavenly birthday, and Esme's third birthday! When we decided to adopt her, we decided since we were picking her up from her foster home on May 6, that we would just say that May 5 was her birthday. We knew that our sweet boy Hamlet would think it was a good thing for a kitty to have his birthday, too.

I'm making some brownies for The Tim and to have as part of our celebration later, and the kitties will have some special food for dinner. Later we'll have treats, sing Happy Birthday, and Esme will get her gift, which is a catnip taco (seemed appropriate for Cinco de Mayo!).  We are so lucky that even though she still thinks we are trying to kill her 90% of the time, she has improved from thinking it was 100% of the time. Now she will cuddle for a few minutes, and let you pet her without having a heart attack and running away. Baby steps, but good ones.

So that's the latest from here. I hope this week is a good one, and Happy Cinco de Mayo from everyone at our house!

A Birthday Post

Things have been rough so far this year, so it's especially nice that we have a little more than a week of various happy things starting today.

Happy Birthday to Milo the Koodle!

This stinker turns 13 years old today! Life is never boring with the Koodle, I have to say. He definitely keeps us on our toes, and keeps the other cats on alert a lot of the time. He's still missing his best Pip buddy (as are all of us), so we are hoping to make this birthday an extra good one for him with lots of attention and treats. 

He is actually a very good boy overall, and cuddly - as long as it's when HE wants to cuddle! He doesn't miss much that happens around here, and every morning he sits right next to me when I have my breakfast. If I'm having cereal or oatmeal, he insists on having the very last bit of milk in the bowl - and if I am not forthcoming with said bowl, he will tap me on the arm with his claws in the event that maybe I have forgotten he's there.🙄

Nothing is as much fun to him as a game of Kitty Tease (the fishing rod with a bit of fabric at the end) - he LOVES playing that! The biggest problem is that he is not happy to share it with anyone else. He'll "catch" it, and then hold it in his iron jaw until something distracts him and I can pull it out so the others can play. 

So we'll have some Kitty Tease time today, and there will be treats. I bought a can of his favorite wet food to split among that cats for his birthday dinner, and I bought him a catnip toy which I'm sure will be the cause of much hilarity for all. I'll stop at a local place and buy a cupcake so we can have a candle and sing "Happy Birthday" tonight. 

We could all use some reason to celebrate. 💖

Carrying On

Well there isn't much to report today. I am working on some projects around the house before I go for a walk. It's not sunny today, but it's not raining, so I can go outside and not get drenched, which is what happened on the way home from a Dr appt yesterday. 😒

We are going to see a play tonight, which both of us have been looking forward to seeing. We've seen this actor in two other shows he has done where he plays Groucho Marx, and I have to say, it's hard to think it's not really him. And it's always fun to go to the Walnut Street Theater, and wonder if you'll run into one of the Barrymores. (Not Drew, though.) We could both use some really good laughs and this will fit the bill nicely.

This week has been one of those kind of "meh" weeks up until today. Neither of us have been sick, but I've had a constant headache, and The Tim has been extra tired (which is saying something in his case, him being the Nap King and all). But by last night both of us were doing much better, so the rest of the week should be all good.

Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut, which always makes me feel better, and then I am heading into Center City to get a small cake to celebrate Milo the Koodle's birthday on Saturday.

His actual birthday is on Monday (we actually know it, since he was born in a friend's back yard). But I work until 6 p.m. on Monday, as well as working all day Sunday. So we're going to have our celebration for him on Saturday, when we're all home all day. 😊 I'm buying his little cake tomorrow since Saturday it is supposed to pour rain all day, and that way I won't have to go out in that weather. 

The only knitting I have that has progressed at all is my pair of birthday socks. I am on the foot of the second sock, so if not sooner, the pair should be finished by the end of the weekend. The headache from earlier in the week meant that I didn't feel much like knitting, and couldn't knit for long when I did. But these will be finished in plenty of time to wear for my day, which was the plan to start, so I'm excited about that. My other two projects are somewhat languishing, but should start getting attention next week when the socks are no longer in rotation.

There's not much else to report. Work has been OK, but there's been a lot of turnover recently, which isn't surprising, since it's kind of the nature of the place. But it seems that a lot of people are suddenly leaving or are gone all at once, which is not surprising but you know how it is when the people you enjoy leave. We are busy getting ready for the Greater Philly Yarn Crawl, which begins next Thursday. Lots of special things will be in the shop for that. (I won't even be around, which kind of bums me out, but then again, I'm not there for a good reason and know I'll have a wonderful long weekend.) If you are in the area, you should go to at least a few of the stores that are participating, it should be a good time. The good part of it as far as I'm concerned is that I am now more familar with some shops not that far away that I'd like to visit sometime.

In other news, I have decided that after not being able to go for a few years, that I want to try and go to Maryland Sheep and Wool this year. It's been so long since I've gone that it will be nice and fresh again. Hopefully I can find someone to go, but if nothing else, I know that The Tim can be recruited to join me. It's not necessarily his first choice of something to do, but he ends up having a good time once he's there. And then he has enough snarky jokes and comments about knitters to get him through a few months ... 🙄

So that's it for today. Off to take my walk and then pay some bills, as my glamorous lifestyle just continues. I hope your day goes well, whatever you are doing or planning to do.

The Week That Was

Hello again and Happy Spring!  I didn't really plan to be AWOL, so to speak, but I was. I have to tell you, last week was absolutely magnificent!  I enjoyed every single moment of my time off, and it was so nice to sleep well, not stress-eat all of the time, and be able to enjoy getting some exercise.  We all had a good week, as the kitties enjoyed having someone to serve their needs 24/7, and The Tim enjoyed the fact that I wasn't bitching and moaning about work every single freaking day. 😊 (Who can blame him??)

The only annoying thing that happened was that on Saturday, I decided to finally get my act together and respond to the comments on my last couple of posts.  Well, both my e-mail and Blogger worked together to make sure that nothing like that happened!  When I responded via e-mail, I got "Message undeliverable" for every single thing, and when I thought I would actually decide to respond on Blogger, each time I was told "Comment cannot be processed."  So rather than become a raving maniac before I had to go back to work (because I wanted to enjoy those last couple of days), I just decided not to get worked up over it.  To any who commented, thank you for your comments and good wishes, I promise I wasn't ignoring you!  

So let's do a quick recap of the birthdays.

Milo the Koodle enjoyed his birthday celebration very much.  Even though they don't get any cake to eat, Milo and Pip both enjoy the lit birthday candles and the singing.  Though they don't want to get too close to the candles thankfully!  But Milo loved the special attention, and was quite pleased with some catnip and some treats.  Then he made sure to get a TON of attention for the rest of that day and all weekend.  Thanks for the kind wishes you sent his way.  I read them to him and he purred quite loud.

My birthday was really lovely.  It was a beautiful day, and though I had to stick close to home for most of it, because the tree trimmers were there, I was a) home, b) completely left to my own devices, and c) knew I had the rest of the week if I wanted to go anywhere.  The guys from the tree trimming place were really nice and efficient, and by the time they were finished on Tuesday afternoon, not only were the trees trimmed and pruned and the ivy gone from the side of the house, the garden was cleaned up much better than any of my efforts, ever!  Now I just hope I can do a decent job of maintenance.

I got a couple of real-life, lovely cards from friends which was such a treat.  One of my online friends (who shall not be named here because I'm not sure if she would want to be named, also you might be jealous if she never sent you anything!) sent me a lovely card and note with this needleminder tucked into the package:

It's like the people who made this have met me, right?  It was so exciting to see a little treat in the card, and then when I pulled it out, it just cracked me up, it's so perfect! (The Tim: "Wow, she nailed that one.")

After I sent a link for this, The Tim bought this for the kitties to give to me:

When you undo the zipper, and open it up, there are dpns from size US0 to US6!  (Also - HOW is there already cat hair all over the case??? This was set up on a shelf away from them!  Sigh.)

These are Knitters' Pride Zing needles, and though I haven't used the dpns before, I love the circular ones.  I sent The Tim a link from Webs, but he told me he bought these from Amazon because they were a lot cheaper there.  Which is somewhat sad since we both try not to use Amazon if we don't have to, but then again, he said they were more than $10 less there, so I don't blame him.  

Anyway, we had a yummy dinner, and homemade marble cake with chocolate frosting, so it was all good.

That's it for now.  I'm finishing this at work since I arrived half an hour early, but I'd better sign off now before my time runs out.  Thanks again for all of the well-wishes, both for me and for the Koodle!  I'll fill you in on the rest of the week in a later post.  

Have the best week possible. 😀

Ten on the Eleventh

Good morning and Happy Friday!  I for one am especially happy that this day has arrived, for two reasons, which I will discuss later in this post.

Today is March 11, and I want to talk about the number ten.  It's a nice, round number, introducing double digits to the string.  How many lists of "ten" have you come across?  Top Tens are a big one, as are Ten Ways To _______ (for good or for bad).  In a football game, ten yards gets you a first down on your way to the goalpost.  The British Prime Minister lives at 10 Downing Street (as does Larry the Cat!).  Everyone's favorite musical Founding Father - Alexander Hamilton - is on the ten-dollar bill.  One of the first ways we learn to count in groupings is doing five, ten, fifteen, twenty, etc.  

But today, on March 11, 2022, the very best thing about the Number Ten is this:

Milo the Koodle is ten years old today!!

Yep, on this day ten years ago, he was born in one of The Tim's former co-worker's backyard, where she took care of some feral cats.  He had 4 other siblings.  

The Koodle is definitely one of a kind, and honestly I think if just about anyone else had adopted him, he would have quickly been returned to a shelter or left out on the street abaondoned.  Because some of his "unique" features and behaviors are, shall we say ... troublesome.  But The Tim and I decided he was part of our family, and even though it was possible that he was possessed by Satan, we would never give him up.  

It helps that he is a cutie pie, and that when he is not peeing on things or destroying things or shredding your skin, he is a love bug.  He loves to cuddle, he loves to play - needless to say, all on HIS terms.  He and Pip are best buds and occasional mortal enemies.  He adored both Dug the Doodle Dog and Hamlet, and is somewhat lost without them.

But when he sits on your lap and purrs like a truck, or cuddles up next to you when you are lying down, he is the kind of kitty everyone wants to have.

So tonight, we will have birthday cake, treats, and presents to kickoff his birthday weekend. 

The second reason I'm glad that Friday is finally here is because it's the last day I have to be at work for a week!  I had marked next week off as vacation back in November, when our dept at work was still at full staff.  Of course, now that there is just myself and one other person (She The Terrible), my taking a week of vacation is being seen as the equivalent of eating a baby or something.  Now keep in mind that last month, She The Terrible took 2 weeks of vacation, and it was to be commended because she "works so hard."  (And she is the terrible boss' favorite person in the place, next to himself.)  But my vacation week is SUCH a problem, you know???

As my mother would say, TDB (too d**n bad).  I'm planning a week where I do my best to forget all of the people at work, where I don't check e-mail or attend Zoom meetings, and where *they* can be the ones to sign for packages, give directions, answer all of the phones, etc.  

I plan to do whatever I feel like doing on any given day, within reason of course (no stabbing annoying people, etc.).  I have a couple of dr appts, The Tim's days off are on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we'll probably have some adventure then, and there are a couple of days where I have to be at home anyway because some workers are coming to take the ivy off the side of our house, and do some pruning work on some trees in our garden.  

It would be nice if someone contacted me for a job interview, but I'm not gonna count on it.  That would just be a bonus.

So join me today in wishing the Koodle a happy birthday, and have a wonderful weekend doing whatever you are planning to do!

*****

I thought you might enjoy these outtakes from the birthday boy's photoshoot.  They prove that the sweet, innocent face above is as much a ruse as anything else.

*Just* as a snapped the photo!

A typical photo attempt, on any given day not just a birthday!

Random Things That Are Pleasing Me

Hello!  If you know me at all, you are not surprised that I'm starting with this reminder from Chemistry Cat:

I have an alarm set on my phone for 2:22 p.m., so I can text The Tim to wish him happy 2:22 on 2-2-22.  Which will amuse him, but also further convince him that I am a weirdo. Ask me if I care. 😉

BUT - the numbers fun doesn't end there - for the rest of February, all of the dates are palindromes!  (Yesterday was too, but I got distracted and forgot to post.)  As Kermit would say:

Being that today happens to also be Tiny Needle Tuesday, I wanted to show you the result of my Stitchy Saturday work:

There are two mistakes, regarding spacing but I am choosing to ignore them.  I managed to finish the "Winter" on Saturday, and though it took me longer than it should have, I am happy with how it's going.

Yesterday afternoon, I had a dr appt and walking home, I took this photo from the Walnut Street bridge:

It was such a clear day, and the water on the Schuylkill River looked like glass.  It's not a glamorous view, but it pleases me because I can identify nearly everything in it.  

Then there are these two:

They are having a hard time, because they miss their Hamlet (as do we all, but you can't explain what happened to them).  They have been spending much more time than usual curled up together on his bed.  We love them so much!  And lest you see this photo and think they are a couple of angels, please know that at some point during every sweet scene like this, one of them wakes up and randomly bops the other one, leading to a hiss fight.

I took this picture of Pip on his birthday, which is Valentine's Day.  We postponed our Valentine's celebration until this past weekend because we had picked up Hamlet's ashes on February 14, but no way were we going to skip Pip's birthday, that wouldn't be fair.  He is such a sweetie, and really enjoyed his treats and the toy he got as a present.  Of course, Milo the Koodle has enjoyed it as well ... because nothing in our house belongs to anyone on their own!

*****

I wanted to say thank you for all the comments you left on my post from last week.  I got a bit carried away cleaning out my e-mail inbox, and accidentally deleted them before replying.  Then I tried to respond on Blogger, but those responses disappeared into the ether, so who knows what is going on there?  Whereas for a while, I wasn't getting any notifications of comments, now I get multiple notifications for each comment - so I guess it's feast or famine as far as that's concerned.  

That's it for now.  I hope you have some random things that are pleasing to you as well.  Take care.

Letters to Santa

Dear Santa Claus - Hello, this is Pip.  I hope you are doing well, and that this year has been good to you.  Is the North Pole still in a pandemic?  I hope you will be careful on your trip, because I would hate for you to get sick with Covid-19, and also I would not want you to take it back to the North Pole with you.  But now that I think of it, you've gone through a lot of these things, haven't you, so you know how to stay safe.

My year has been pretty good.  My parents spent LOTS of time at home with us and even though for a few months they've been going back to work, they still spend evenings and weekends with us because they are very careful and don't go out places unless they have to.  We like it that they are home and that they are not sick, and I especially like it for cuddling but also because it gives me a chance to tell them even more than I usually do!  (I do love to talk, Santa - are any of the reindeer that way??)

Anyway, you probably are wondering what I might like for Christmas.  Well, a catnip toy is always a good choice, and it would be nice to get some treats.  We ran out of treats about a month ago (a MONTH AGO!!!), and our Ma keeps saying that we should just wait and see if you bring us some treats before we go and buy some.  I don't agree with that, and I have said so many times, but I don't think she is listening.  

Anyway, last summer my cousin Amanda gave us some Soups, I think they were from Friskies, and I LOVE THOSE.  My parents think they look like ... well, vomit, but they are wrong, they look like yumminess, and they are!  So if you think I have been extra good, one of those would be nice to eat on New Year's Day for dinner.

I guess this is a lot to ask for, and maybe some of these will be wrapped up from my parents, I guess you would know if that is the case.  So I'll leave it in your hands.  Please give my best to everyone at the North Pole, and I promise to be sleeping when you arrive!

Love always, Pip.

********

Dear Santa - Hi Santa!  It's Hamlet!  I love you!  I can't wait for you to come to our house!  I love Christmas!  I love you (I know I just said that but it's true)!!  

I love Christmas presents!  I hope you will bring me something fun, or even a treat!  I love it when I can chase a ball!  And I love it when my parents give me a treat!  My Ma bought me an Advent calendar, and every evening she opens one of the windows and there is a treat in there and it is yummy and it is so fun to see what it is, sometimes it is a gingerbread man, and sometimes it is a snowman, and sometimes it is a decoration, and every time it's a surprise and I eat it because it is so yummy and then I can't wait for the next day to open the next window, and what do you think the chances might be that maybe in these last couple of days one of the treats will look like a SQUIRREL??!!!  

I wish I could stay up to see you when you come to our house!  I would give you all kinds of kisses and cuddles and also I would kiss and cuddle the reindeer too!  I love you, Santa, so I promise to be asleep when you arrive, but please know I'm sending kisses and cuddles to you!

Merry Christmas Santa!  Don't forget about the animals who need some extra love and attention, maybe give them something special too!  I love you!

Love and sloppy kisses, Hamlet.

********

Hello Santa, I see that the others have already written their letters, so of course this is Milo the Koodle.  I have been very good this year (as far as Koodles go), and so I think I truly deserve something special.  Treats are always good.  I see that Pip has already told you about the lack of treats in our house for approximately one month.  I have tried to take legal action but it is difficult to do so when you can't use a telephone and are afraid to leave your house.  Plus, I've asked around and apparently there are no cats who are qualified attorneys, which when you think about it isn't really that surprising because cats have better ways to spend their time.  Anyway, please bring treats.

Also, I promise to try and be nicer to my parents because I know they do love me, but can you blame me sometimes for getting irritated with them (see treats problem, above)??  Maybe you could bring them a handbook on caring for your cat, because I'm thinking it could only help.

I hope you have a safe journey on Christmas Eve.  I will do my best to be asleep when you arrive, though if you could come either before 2 a.m. or after about 3:30 a.m. Philadelphia time, that would be best, because I do need to have my middle-of-the-night running and yowling session, and I'd hate for that to mean you skipped our house.

Thanks, Santa, and a Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Lots of love, Milo the Koodle.

********

Note from me:  Dear Santa, Good luck!  😊

********

Have a good day, everyone, and an extra special wish for a happy Christmas Eve Eve to Kym and her sister!

Still Here

Hi all - you may have noticed I was MIA last week.  It wasn't really planned, but it happened, and I'm still here.  

Our weekend was ridiculously hot, so not a lot got accomplished inside or outside.  I did manage to get the package ready to take to the post office containing the socks I knit for the woman who raised Hamlet as a puppy, and who we had a meet up with last month.  I'm going to walk it up to get it in the mail today, once I finish this post.  The socks turned out really well, and I think/hope she'll like them; if nothing else, I know she will love the idea of them, and that's fine with me.  That is an FO post to come.

Not a whole lot is new here.  We're getting ready mentally and physically for our trip to WV for Memorial Day weekend.  We always like to make sure we take some things to contribute, food and drink-wise, so we went to a couple of places over the weekend to stock up.  There will just be the six of us (The Tim and I, my sister and brother-in-law, and Amanda and Pat), so we don't need as much as we would normally take, when there are a lot more people.  But all of us enjoy similar things, and the holiday weekend is a treat, so it's fun to buy things we don't generally have around the house.  And I wanted to get ahead of laundry since we will miss our usual day to catch up.  So there has been stuff going on, but not the kind of thing that makes for really exciting blog content. 😉

  

Yesterday was the hottest it's been so far in 2021 in Philadelphia, and since we had our grocery/liquor store adventure on Saturday, we just stayed put and tried not to melt.  What really killed us was that for as hot as it was, apparently Pip still needed some warmth:

That's him, lying on top of the laptop as it's plugged in to charge.  Causing us to ask ourselves for probably the millionth time, Why do we have a Pip??

But perhaps most amusing of all, was the artistic design of Milo the Koodle and Pip doing some dramatic lounging in the heat:

Cats, right?

Anyway, that's it for now.  I have the aforementioned FO post coming up for you this week, as well as a post with some photos from a walk around the neighborhood that I took with Hamlet this past Friday.  I thought it would be fun to share some of our nearby streets, and things to see around here.  So stay tuned for that in the next few days.

In the meantime, I hope you are having a nice day so far (it's much cooler and more pleasant here), and that you are all well.

There Was a Lot of Relaxing

No one will ever be able to say that anyone in our house did too much this weekend.  Other than getting dressed, feeding everyone, and the necessities of Hamlet's "toilette," no one did anything requiring effort.  Which is fine, but the addition of really really really nice weather all weekend took it to a new level.

Though Milo the Koodle started early, on Labor Day weekend.  My houseplants live in a space where they are across from a window, but don't get a ton of sun.  So I try to remember to place them on the windowsill on extra nice days to soak in some extra sunshine.  Labor Day weekend was another nice one, so I set the plants out to enjoy the holiday.  Then someone else decided that *they* wanted to sit in the sun too ...

This piece of nature art is entitled, "Koodle in the houseplant jungle."

He was surprised when I took the photo, because I'm pretty certain that he thought no one could see him.  😏

Anyway, this weekend relaxing was taken to a new level.  We have Pip doing some extremely dramatic lounging.

Though he does look comfy, doesn't he?  He stayed in this position for a couple of hours.  (Why do cats never seem stiff from sleeping in weird positions??)

Not to be outdone, the Koodle decided to play "Why don't you try to figure out how many paws are in this picture?"

Seriously, it looks like more than four, don't you think???  He is sleeping on Hamlet's bed, which of course meant that Hamlet was unable to use it at all.  Because even though Hamlet is about ten times the size of the cats, he will never ever challenge them about anything!

We were able to spend a lot of time outside in the garden, and I got a lot of reading and knitting done both inside and outside.  I managed to finish the last hat in my group for Christmas gifts, and just have the toe to finish on the first sock of a pair I'm knitting.  I finished one book and started another.  I enjoyed watching the Notre Dame football game, and was happy they won; otherwise, it was a PITIFUL weekend for any Philly sports fans - the Phillies and the Eagles both lost in the kinds of showings that should be used forever as examples of how NOT to play!  

Me:  Well, at least the Union [Philadelphia Union, pro soccer team] won on Saturday night ...

The Tim:  I don't care about them at all, but I'll take it.

(Things are really bad when The Tim takes it to heart!)

Sometimes it just goes that way, what are you gonna do, right?

This morning I hope to finish the sock, and start the second one.  Then I want to spend some time thinking what/if/how I can make any other gifts for this year.  I'm kind of at a loss, because I want quick gifts and the others I want to make them for are knit-worthy, but not with a lot of variety, if you know what I mean.  So we'll see what happens.

I hope you enjoyed the weekend as well, and that the coming week is kind to you. 

Furball Friday

Pip and Milo wish you a relaxing weekend.  

See you in August!

Here's What I Have for You Today

This boy.

This is Milo the Koodle, who turns 8 years old today.  In my entire lifetime of having pets, I have only ever known the exact birth date of Milo and now Hamlet as well. 

Milo was born to a feral cat mother in the South Philly backyard of one of The Tim's former co-workers.  After a while, all of the other kittens were spoken for, except for him.  We had adopted Dug the Doodle Dog just a few months before, and I convinced The Tim that Dug needed his own kitten.  And that is how Milo came to be with us.

It's also how he became the Koodle - he was the Kitten of our Doodle dog.  :-)

Celebrations will be had at home this evening, with treats for everyone and lots of cuddles.

Happy Birthday to our boy - we love you Bud-Bud! 

Lucky #7

Seven years ago today, a feral cat had a litter of kittens in South Philly.  The feral cat was lucky, because she was in the backyard of a friend of ours, who had created a shelter for feral cats and fed them.  Once the kittens were weaned, she was able to find homes for all but one kitten, as well as take the mom to be spayed.  We had recently adopted Dug the Doodle Dog, and I told The Tim that we should adopt the kitten because Dug needed a kitten.  After a few weeks of reminding him of this, and some agreement from the friend, that kitten (aka The Koodle) joined our family.

He was so little!

By the end of the same evening that he arrived in May of that year, he and Dug were inseparable, causing The Tim to say, "I guess Dug did need a kitten."

Of course, his real name is Milo, and he has been a real character for sure!  He and the other cats have always been friends, but when Hamlet joined the family last summer, you could tell it made him really happy.  They are such pals, even though Hamlet is still figuring out the whole cat thing in general.

He embodies the adage, "When he was good, he was very very good - but when he was bad, he was horrid."  

Happy 7th Birthday, Milo the Koodle! 

 We hope you'll be around to drive us insane for many more years.