Thursday 13: Hi

Since I haven’t blogged in quite a while, I thought a Thursday 13 would be a good way to start back.

1.    Since a cat picture is always a good way to start a Thursday 13, enjoy this picture of Tara.  She’s camera-shy, so I’m always happy when I’m able to get a picture of her.

 

2.    I don’t really have a great reason for not blogging much.  One of the main reasons has been that I find myself alternating between ridiculous amounts of doomscrolling and then taking myself entirely offline for a while.  Also, I tend to blog about very unimportant things, and that has felt wrong lately.  Recently, my friend at my work showed me where they keep all of their documentation to be here.  I’m not sure what else to call it.  This person legally immigrated here over 30 years ago, has multiple advanced degrees, and works for the government.  (I want to be clear that I am not saying that this person’s degrees or employment status make them more worthy of not being snatched off the street and potentially sent to a concentration camp.  I’m just trying to make the point that plenty of people, regardless of other factors, are living in fear simply because of their skin color.  And that is not OK.)  But, recently, they came to me and said, “Because I’m brown, I want to make sure someone here knows where all of these things are.”  They then showed me where to look in their wallet for various forms of documentation.  On one hand, I’m glad they showed me because, unfortunately, I think it’s good for someone to know.  On the other hand, that is not a conversation we ever should have needed to have.  I hate that they’re in a position to need to pick a person at work to have that conversation with.  It’s hard to come home and write a blog post about groundhogs or flowers after something like that. 

3.    I don’t want to make it sound like it has just been misery that has kept me from blogging,  It hasn’t.  I have a very bad habit of trying to start way too many projects at once.  In April, I decided to start a massive decluttering/organizing project on the whole house, sign up for the A to Z Blogging Challenge, take on a fourth Chemo Angels buddy, start the garden, continue working on our big drainage project, and work on some other projects in the yard.  Some of those things have gone better than others, and some have spilled over and are still going on.

 

4.    On the decluttering/organizing front, we have made tons of progress.  This closet used to have things falling off the shelves.   We didn’t keep track, but between donations and a few things that went to the dump, we got rid of probably dozens of carloads of stuff. 

 

5.    We each got rid of about half of our clothing and reorganized where and how we store a lot of things.  It makes keeping up with laundry, putting away clean laundry, and getting dressed so much easier.  Plus, it makes me ridiculously happy every time I see my shirts organized by style and color.

 

6.    Theodore absolutely loves storage cubes!

 

7.    With our neighbors’ help, we have finished one of the French drains we were working on.   After this project is finished, I will be very happy if I never have to shovel gravel again!

 

8.    We are almost finished with the second French drain.  We just need to add the overflow valve and finish filling in the trench with the pipe. 

 

9.    We haven’t started on the third one yet.  Between heat advisories and storms, it has been hard to do much work outside.  We hoped to be able to hire someone to finish the project and do some grading work, but after the estimate, that’s off the table for a while. 

10. Some parts of the garden are going better than others. 

 

11. The Orange Chef’s Choice tomato plant is doing fairly well.

 

12. The Roma tomato plant is barely hanging on.

 

13. I’m working on catching up on visiting all of your blogs, and hope to “see” you soon.  

Thursday 13: Another One Without a Theme

1.    I think a cat picture is always a good way to start a Thursday 13, so here’s one of Caroline.

2.    One of our favorite local restaurants that flooded during Hurricane Helene reopened recently, so we went for dinner last week. 

3.    They make all of their own sauces, and everything is so good.  The food is wonderful, but the sauces are incredible.

4.    When we said it was our first time back since they reopened, they showed us where the waterline had been during the flooding.  It’s a little hard to see in the picture, so I circled it. 

5.    You can see why it took a little over four months for them to reopen!

6.    In happier weather-related news, we’ve been enjoying some warmer weather this week.  We’ve gotten almost up to seventy degrees almost every day.  It has been wonderful! 

7.    I know it probably won’t last, but I’m enjoying it for now. 

8.    So are the flowers.

9.    The daffodils are starting to come up.

10. We have a tulip just starting to come up.

11. We have a hyacinth that looks like it’s very close to blooming.

12. I’m hoping it won’t get cold enough to kill off the flowers!

13. A cat picture seems like a good ending for this Thursday 13, so here’s one of Tara.

How was your week?  

The Quirky Quartet

Since Saturday’s post about painting with them went over fairly well, I thought I’d take today to introduce (or re-introduce if you’ve been around for a while) you to our quirky quartet of cats.

Milo & Howard

Howard is our oldest and first adopted cat.  I had him when Nick and I met.  He came from the county shelter, and wasn’t the cat I thought I was looking for at all.   But when I saw Howard I knew he was the right little guy for me. 

Howard is by far our friendliest and most outgoing cat.  He loves people and always greets company.  He also loves other animals and seems to greet any new pet arrival by saying “Hi!  I’m Howard, your new friend!”

Milo is our second oldest and second adopted cat.  He’s also the first fur kid Nick and I adopted together.  We adopted him a little over a month after we were married because we decided Howard need a kitty buddy.

Milo is probably our most high maintenance cat.  He’s very loving and affectionate toward very few people and doesn’t have much use for the rest.  He can also be very impatient and doesn’t handle disruptions to his routine very well.  He absolutely loves Howard, though.  The two of them are best friends and spend a lot of time cuddling together.

Frankie is our youngest cat, but third adopted.  A friend posted on Facebook about her sister needing to find a home for a kitten.  The next thing we knew we were adopting Frankie.

Frankie is more cautious than Howard, but definitely more of an explorer than Milo.  He’s very interested in scents; he loves to check out and sniff the vegetables that come in the CSA box.  Frankie also adores hair products.  I don’t use very many, so my hair is always a disappointment to him, but he loves to smell my friend Crystal’s hair.

Tara & Frankie

Tara is our second youngest and last adopted (for the moment!) cat.  She’s a failed foster.  We housed Tara and one other cat while the no-kill shelter was being renovated.  She was so timid and scared at first that we couldn’t stand the thought of taking her back to the noisy hustle and bustle of the shelter once she started to warm up to us.

Tara is still very timid and not a very social cat, but she adores Frankie and loves spending time with him.  I think she feels safe with Frankie.  She also likes to play with little things that she can bat around on the floor.  She loves the little toy mice and little things like bottle caps. 

So that’s our quirky quartet.  They all have their own quirks, and together they’re quite a quartet, but they keep life fun and interesting for us. 

“I Just Wanted A Treat!”

"I just wanted a treat!"

This pretty little treat thief is Tara, one of the members of our quirky quartet of cats. She’s the only female cat, and usually the good cat. I think her good behavior is due at least in part to the fact that she’s very timid and shy.

The boys get into everything and do lots of things they’re not really supposed to. Tara very rarely gets into things or messes with anything. So I was very surprised when I caught her with the giant treat container knocked over and opened like this. She really loves her treats.

June Is Adopt A Cat Month

Howard

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a crazy cat lady.  I feel no shame, and actually proudly proclaim my title.  I love cats.  Always have.  Always will.  We currently have four cats (Howard, Milo, Frankie, and Tara) which seems to be our limit for the moment.  All four of them are rescues, and I like to think that we’re giving them all a pretty good life. 

Frankie

Unfortunately, not all cats who wind up in shelters are as fortunate as our quirky quartet. 2012 statistics show that 70% of cats in shelters are euthanized.  That number is really high, and really scary, especially when you think about the fact that so many of those cats are perfectly healthy, adoptable cats.  There just wasn’t a place for them. 

Milo

Fortunately, June is Adopt A Cat Month!   A month all about adopting your very own feline companion or two!  Shelters are full of cats and kittens of all ages, colors, and personalities just waiting for their very own homes. 

Marta - a cat we fostered

In honor of June being Adopt A Cat Month, I am planning to give my blog over to cats for the entire month of June, and I’m hoping for your help and participation.  I’m also offering a prize to encourage participation and further help the kitties.  I want to feature rescues and shelters, and maybe some stories of rescued cats, and I’m looking for guest posts to do this.  Is there a cat in your local shelter who has been there too long?  Is your shelter trying to raise money to build/expand/improve their cat area?  Are you a rescue looking for volunteers for transports, foster homes, etc.?  Are you trying to place a special needs cat?  Does your area have a spay/neuter program in place for cats?  Are you a rescuer who has found an effective way to make the shelter/adoption process less stressful for cats?  I’d love to have your blog post on it.

Here are the rules:

1.       Absolutely NO cats and/or kittens for sale, NOTHING from breeders.  I am a FIRM believer in “adopt don’t shop”!

2.       You must send a link for the shelter or rescue the cat is from or that the story is about.  The link will be included in the post.

3.       Please include a link to Sweet Tea Reads on your regular blog, (you’re not required to have a blog to participate) if you have one, on the day that your post is scheduled to appear. 

4.       All posts and pictures must be received by Friday, May 23, 2014.  Please send them to dlzecher@gmail.com.  Once I get them all scheduled I will email you with the date that your post will appear.  I cannot guarantee the acceptance of all posts, but I will respond to all entries, and post updates as to the number of spaces left, etc. 

5.  Please keep an eye on your guest post to respond to comments and any questions about your cat, shelter, etc.  You're in a better position to answer specific questions than I am.  

Let’s use the power of Blogger for the good of cats during the month of June.  Maybe, with a little luck, we can get the right cat (cats) seen by the right person (people).  Crazy cat people unite! 

Tara

Now, on to the prize.  Every rescue or shelter (must be a non-profit organization) featured in a post will be entered into a drawing for a $25.00 donation from me.  Multiple posts featuring the same place will result in multiple entries.  I will announce the winner on Tuesday, July 1, 2014. 

Please be patient with me, as this will be my first experience with guest posts.  If something isn’t clear or just doesn’t make sense, please ask in the comments, and I’ll do my best to improve things.  Let’s keep this fun and in the spirit of helping cats. 

Fire Drill, (Almost) Flaming Cat Tail, Cold Wind & Soup

Are any of you in an area being affected by Hurricane Sandy?  I suppose the more appropriate question would be are any of you NOT in an area being affected by Hurricane Sandy?

We’ve had a VERY windy past few days, and it has been cold; very, very cold.  I realize that we’re fortunate and I shouldn’t complain, but I do miss the warmer weather.  Our area has had some power loss, but we’ve been lucky so far.

The wind has been blowing lots of things around; we’ve lost a Halloween decoration, lost some branches, and gained a bunch of leaves.  I think the branches and leaves are a pretty fair trade, so nothing to complain about there. 

The building I work in lost power yesterday afternoon, so we were able to go home an hour early.  We apparently lost power at home at some point (the digital clocks were flashing when I got home yesterday), but it was back on by the time I came home from work.  Some of the traffic lights were out on way home, but were working again by this morning.  It seems that the utilities people are doing an amazing job keeping things up and running here.

I decided that this was the perfect weather to try a new soup recipe.  Soup is just so perfect for cold nights, and I thought there was a reasonable chance we’d end up with company due to power outages, or end up at my husband’s grandparents’ house if we lost power (they live on the opposite side of town, so we were going with the thought/hope that at least one household would have power).  So a big pot of soup seemed like a good idea.

I found this recipe for Beer & Cheese Soup.  It was delicious!  We didn’t have Dijon Mustard, so I left that out.  I also added one extra cup of cheese.  I thought it was a little on the salty side, but my husband didn’t.  I think I’ll use half the salt the recipe calls for when I make it again, but it was still fabulous.  It makes a lot, so it’s great for a crowd, and re-heats well.  I didn’t serve it with popcorn either, just bread. 

We have turned on the heat in both parts of the house now that it is so cold.  We have a room that’s an add-on, so it’s not part of the central heating and cooling system.  It has a wall heater that is natural gas.  It isn’t pretty, but it keeps that room very warm, and my husband says it will work if we lose power.  We plan to eventually replace it with some sort of gas logs fireplace type thing. 

It turns out that “eventually” may need to come sooner than we thought.  Tara was walking around the heater last night (it’s next to the cabinet we keep their food in) and brushed her tail into it.  Her tail was on the flame!  It was one of those heart-stopping, I can’t believe this is happening moments.  We both just knew she was going to catch on fire.  She scares so easily and always runs when she’s scared, so we were terrified we wouldn’t be able to catch her quickly.  Somehow, she didn’t catch on fire.  Her tail wasn’t even singed.  I think it took some years off both our lives, but she is fine.  We turned it down to the lowest setting, so there was less of a flame, for the rest of the night.  We also locked all of the fur kids out of that room. 

I’ve been emailing my husband various fireplace screens that I’ve found online.  We will probably be ordering one tonight.  I don’t know if we can take another close call like that.  We have to keep the fur kids safe. 

This morning they apparently decided to make us pay for the extra hour off yesterday.  We had a fire drill shortly after 8:30.  I have no idea why they picked a day when it was 34 degrees and windy for the fire drill, but they did.  We spent about 15 minutes standing outside shivering and complaining.  I think we made it back inside in a lot less time than it took us to leave the building!

Here’s wishing for warm, sunny days for everyone.  I hope you’re all staying safe and doing well during the storm. 

Who Says Cats Are Sneaky?

I’m a cat lover, actually I think I’m probably closer to being a crazy cat lady than just a cat lover; crazy cat lady or just cat lover, I LOVE cats.  I love my cats, my family’s cats, my friends’ cats, pretty much all cats. I have always had cats in my life.  I dream of winning the lottery so we can have a bigger house, with room for more cats.  (You can read more about my cats Howard, Milo, Frankie, and Tara by clicking on their names.) 

As a confirmed cat lover (and possible crazy cat lady) I always find it very hard to understand when someone tells me they don’t like cats.  To me that’s a bit like announcing that you don’t like oxygen.  I just don’t understand it.  I really don’t understand some of the reasons either; especially when someone says they don’t trust cats because cats are sneaky.

It has been my experience that our cats aren’t sneaky at all.  In fact, sometimes I’m pretty sure we’re getting the cat equivalent of the middle finger.  Maybe it’s just our cats, but here’s some photographic proof that at least some cats are not sneaky at all.  The package they’re trying to open is a package of treats that they took out of the cabinet right in front of me.  When I got the camera and came to take the pictures, they just kept right on trying to open the treats.  There was no sneaking off from the scene of the crime.

Sneaky, huh?  Sometimes I wish mine were a little sneaky.  I think there are some things I might actually be happier not knowing about.