A Letter.

Dear Sirius and Cassie,

The Lady here has suggested that I write you two a little note, you know, a welcome to the 'hood sort of thing. (You know how mother's "suggest" that you clean your room or something? Yeah, that sort of "suggestion.") Anyway, I'm ok with it. Welcome to Blogland all the way from over here in America!

Hopefully you'll like it around here. There's lots to see. Lots of kittie porn. You can make new friends and check up on all their cuteness. Like here, and here, and even a hint as to what you might look like when you grow up, here. And, of course, Moi. As you can probably see, I'm a rather handsome stud myself, blurriness and all.It looks as though you've found yourselves a rather wonderful family. And they've bought you such a pretty bed! My Lady bought me the dumbest thing. I know she meant well, and thought I'd like it 'cause I jump into every bag or box that she puts down. But, Hel-lo! I'm way too big for that stupid bed. Besides, it's a cat head, for crying out loud. I sent it over to my Auntie kitties and they didn't like it either. Smart Aunties. Hey, before I forget ... can you get Haggis in your kitty food over there? 'Cause, that could be pretty tasty!

Well, anyway, not that you two need it or anything, but I thought I'd give you a few tips, you know, in a big brother sort of way:

::Your people will love it when you leap at them. I see you're well on your way to perfecting that. The other day, I took a running leap at my Lady and almost buckled her knees. I'll try harder next time.

::If you can find yarn or string around, it's great fun to unwind it all through the house. Around table legs, up and down stairs, in and out of rooms. Stay away from the ribbons though. Man that stuff is fun to eat. I ate a few feet of it one day and got a big tummy ache. Stopped eating for a few days (you know it had to be serious, 'cause I have to eat often to maintain my stunning physique.) Anyway, next thing I knew, they cut me open and took all that ribbon out. Ouch!::The men are the best to cuddle up with. They have those strong hands that are good for scratching behind the ears.

::Hide and seek is awesome. Cassie, I heard that you've tried that one out already. Kinda freaks the people out when they can't find you! But it's oh-so-fun to listen to them calling and calling your name while you're hidden somewhere snickering.

I guess I should probably wrap this little missive up. My lady has been kinda crabby lately. She's been working on a blue and white quilt. She laid a ton of little square pieces all over the living room floor the other day. I had the time of my life dive-bombing all that fabric. Even took a slip-n-slide approach and ended up under the couch. Then, I hear the Lady yelling at me and her big ol' face appeared under that skirt-flap and she yanked those squares I took under the couch away from me. Poor sport. She's got no sense of humor. I heard her complaining to her Mum (hey -- like how I'm using Scotland-speak for Mom?) that she didn't have enough blocks and now she's going to have to make a bunch more. Sah-weet! I hope she lays them all over the floor again.
Well, you kids be good. When you get a little older, I'll tell you a few big kitty tricks. Let's just say, stuffed animals are involved. (Ooh, maybe I shouldn't have said that -- your Lady might not let you hang out with me.)
Later man,
Scruff

P.S. Have you two heard anything from Sheepcat lately? If you see him, tell him I said hello!

A Sunny Day

The weather was beautiful here today. I have every other friday off of work, so I managed to catch up around the house a little. I finally had time to put out a few Easter decorations. I love being able to just hang around the house and enjoy it all.

And here's TheEmpty NestChild, just a little stressed out because I'm outside and he's inside.

I hope you are enjoying some nice spring weather where you are!

XOXO,
Anna

Scruffy

About two years ago, sontwo came home with a tiny kitty in his hands. He said he'd found it in the ditch at the end of our driveway. I said we couldn't keep it. We're really dogpeople, rather than catpeople. We'd just been through the death of our beloved 12-yr. old german shepherd and besides, I knew in a few short years the boys would be off to college -- leaving you-know-who to take care of the cat. So, sontwo said he knew of a few girls who would probably love a new kitty.

The next night, sontwo came home with the kitty again. Gee mom, they can't keep it, but they took it to the vet and he thinks it's a girl and it's about 6 weeks old, he said. Well. Fine. So, after about a week, the little kitty didn't seem to be doing very well. TheManofTheHouse poked around and found a little hole in the kitty's neck. We were clueless, so we took the poor little thing to the emergency clinic. Hmmm...this kitty's a boy and is only about 4 weeks old says the new vet. And this hole is (this is gross so close your eyes) a fly larvae. The vet said it's quite common for wild kitties -- they'll poke their head into a hole or something and the fly larvae will rub off onto their fur and the larvae will begin to develop under their skin. Eeeewwww! Anyway, he took it out, we brought the kitty home and after a week of tender loving care by TheManofTheHouse, little kitty thrived.

Turns out, it was a match made in heaven! (Or a big dent in the pocketbook, pick your version of the story.) We've named him Scruffy, and he became our new emptynestchild. Here he is in his favorite place as we speak.
















I know Scruffy was meant to be 'cause he's told me he wants to learn how to sew. There was the time when he came to me with the large darning needle hanging out of his mouth -- it was attached to a piece of candlewicking thread that was already in his stomach and he couldn't figure out what to do with the needle. And then there have been the multiple times when I wake up to find a yarn ball spread all over the house. One time he unrolled one of my yarn balls all over the house right into the basement where he mingled it with the jute ball from a sontwo project that he unrolled.

His true dedication to his education was discovered one morning when TheManofTheHouse gave me an empty ribbon spool and asked if there was anything on it. I said, well, there wa-as. Maybe Scruff ate it, guess we'll just have to watch him. Sure enough a week later, he threwup about 18 inches of ribbon -- only it was still hanging out of his mouth. I pulled. He gagged. I pulled. He gagged. TheManofTheHouse was summoned. He cut the ribbon and Scruff swallowed its remains. Trip to the vet. He gave us some internal grease in hopes that the ribbon would pass.

Two days later, now the Saturday of sontwo's high school graduation, Scruff had stopped eating. TheManofTheHouse took him to the emergency vet (while I entertained the out of town graduation guests) who xrayed him in hopes of finding a blockage. Instead, she found another needle. So, little Scruffy went under the knife and they removed the needle and another 18 inches of ribbon. Bad kitty. Careless mommy. BIG vet bill. I try very hard now to keep my sewing stuff put up, but it's oh so hard.

Sorry for such a long post, but now you've met Scruffy. So far, his story has a happy ending, although there must be more sewing stuff in there 'cause he weighs 17 pounds. Oink. One last pic -- he prefers the water fountain method of procuring his water. Bad kitty.
















XOXO,
Anna