Lonely Needles

Today my needles are sad and lonely, missing their frequent companion, Slinky. And the people in our house are sad and missing her too. I took our kitty to the veterinary emergency clinic late Saturday night. It became apparent she was increasingly uncomfortable and finding it difficult to move. The problem we thought she was having with a hairball must be something else, something more critical. An exam revealed an enlarged bladder. Next, X-rays showed a bladder stone blockage. Then we had to make the sad decision to have her put to sleep. The doctor at the emergency clinic was quite surprised that this problem more typical of older male cats was so threatening to our female six-year-old.

We'll miss her purr and her play
the little bell on her collar and the begging for treats
the berating we would receive coming in the door after leaving her alone
almost tripping over her on the stairs and making sure she doesn't get outside
her peaceful snoozing in sunny windows or warm lamplight
the way she would tell us it was time for breakfast
and the affection she showed mostly to me.

For the Birds

This is a cat who much prefers to groom herself, thank you very much. Here she is "fixing" the mess I just made of her hairdo. But every spring she must do something to contribute to the household that cares for her. We make her suffer through a grooming with a cat brush. This, so I can collect several tufts of her hair.

And why?

For the birds, in a manner of speaking.

Among the kitchen appliances we have this exhaust fan.

And on the outside, the fan masquerades as a nice shelter for sparrow nests.

Having no desire for a family to be raised in my fan vent; having less desire for a bird to make its way into the house; and if it is imaginable, even less desire for a bird to meet its demise at the blades of the fan, every spring I take a preventive action.

You may have noticed the satchel drooping from the exterior fan vent. That is last years coffee filter full of cat hair duct taped to the inside of the vent. When I get the step ladder out of the garage it will be replaced by this year's fresh cat-hair satchel.

Almost Done

I had originally hoped this bathroom remodel that we began the first full week of February would be completed by now. At least today I can report that it is almost done.

The wallpaper boarder arrived in the mail yesterday. A new shower head is expected any day because the original we ordered is no longer available and the contractor's guess, this nice looking but ineffective rain-shower-type head does not allow enough pressure to rinse shampoo from hair.And the exterior trim on the new glass block window needs to be put in place and caulked or weatherstripped or whatever is conventionally done for new glass block windows.It looks like the Quipper and I are not the only ones pleased with the new room. We just show it in different ways!

What's Going On?

Hey! I found something these orange counter tops are good for! They make a nice contrasting background for a photo of our meal's vegetable. When I breaded some pork chops I had lots of herbed breadcrumbs left over, so I added some Parmesan cheese to the crumbs and stuffed this delectable artichoke.

The day is coming when the Engineer will enjoy these along with the rest of us. Then one artichoke will no longer be enough. Too bad only one at a time will fit into my steamer. :-)

We are still unsure if and when the kitchen counter tops can be updated. It is far more important we get work done on the bathroom. That job started yesterday -- hooray!
We will have a shower and tub where there was just a tub before, a sink that will look clean after it is cleaned, a new vanity and medicine cabinet, and a heat vent in the bathroom! I guess that was not important in 1930. Neither of our bathrooms have heat currently. We are more than happy to change that!
And soon our Florida room will lose this look:
A few days ago the Quipper founds that cats can be quite affectionate with remote controls. It seems when we can't find our remote it is bound to be under the cat.