All's right with the world

Gwynnie had her dental procedure yesterday and was at the vet for 10 hours. It was a nerve-wracking experience, both the lead up of the three weeks wait for the appointment and then having to keep her fasted from 3am (yes, she wakes us to eat something at 3am) until we dropped her off at 7:30am. The result: she ended up getting six extractions, which is no small amount, though they apparently do have thirty teeth. Regardless, she came through like a strong cat, eating the food I sent with her while at the vet's, and then wanting more when she got home. She was alert on the drive home looking out the top of her carrier (which I open) at the sunlit mountainside along the freeway. Clearly loopy, but also seeming to feel fine. Litter box use has resumed and she's walking more steadily. I'm so relieved and so grateful it all went well.

Here she is just an hour or so after getting home, looking a bit glassy-eyed out the window as she listened to the neighborhood owl hooting outside. 

Curled up cats

BFFFs: Best fur friends forever

These two love to be together. Secretly, I think it’s more Gwyneth that loves Saylor. Saylor kind of puts up with it. We call her G-O-D (grumpy old dog). This was yesterday’s nap. Gwynnie claims her spot, not taking no for an answer.

Gwynnie Loves Saylor

Gwyneth is a certified snuggle bug, and she loves Saylor so much. She’s always snorgled up next to her. Evidence to follow, and this is a mere sampling of the pictures I have of these two love bugs.

Too Glamorous for Words

We have this little dance. Each day I sit at my desk, working, and Gwyneth snuggles on a blanket, also on my desk. If I get up, she immediately jumps to the chair. I guess it's warm since I was sitting there.

Happy Monday everyone. I hope your week goes well and you find time to slow down and just enjoy the day.

Tea Cup Cozy Cat Cowl

It can get tedious just writing about information technology all day. One’s mind tends to wander a bit. Sometimes you have to just think outside the box and pull your tea cup cozy off your mug and pull it over your cat’s head, as is depicted here.

Gwyneth: Really? You’re really doing this? Then taking my picture, and blogging about it? Wasn’t that pink vest picture enough?

Such a darling tolerant one.
Oh, and Kate loves yams and kale. A lot goes on here during the day. You just wouldn’t imagine! *yawn*

Hypnosis and Cat Re-homing

I will stare at you with my green eyes and silver muzzlepouche until you do my bidding!

So, Mr. Black and White here below is currently in need of a home.

Our next door neighbor passed away a few weeks ago, and left Cosmo and his house to a friend. The friend, however, is allergic to Cosmo – we now learn. So, while it was Cosmo’s address first, he is now having to move. Funny how things work out. Fortunately, I can update this to say that it all worked out and the Cos' found new digs with a nice man who loves cats. Happy happy.

Playing Nice

Some may remember my period of angst when said kitten on the right first joined the family. At first, if seemed Kate (darling Tabby on left) might EAT Gwyneth. Then, Gwynnie grew. Now, little G. antagonizes poor Katie, stalking her on a whim. While Kate holds her own, it still bugs me that the little grey varmint wields such power. But here we have a moment of sisterly peace. Ooh! I see a bird! Oh! Me, too!

And here, close, but not too close.
And here, eating like two planes in runway formation.
‘Course, if Gwyneth gets too uppity, I’ll have to show everyone the picture of her in her pink vest. Oops, too late.

Occupy Bathroom Waste Basket

I am the 99%. I reject the oppression that says kitties cannot sit in wastebaskets. I demand justice! But, no jobs please. I prefer to laze around all day, sleeping in the bed, on the couch, in the window. That's what we cats do, and it must continue unopposed! And I think I fit in this waste basket just fine! What do you mean I've grown into a huge grey cat? Occupy! Occupy! I will not be swayed!

Lie Down with Dogs

My own interspecies snorglefest photo, with our sweet Gwyneth and Saylor. You know if that little grey leg was longer it would be flung across Saylor’s back. She loves her BFFL (best friends for life).

The flipside:

And for the sake of randomness, one of my favorite artists: Alexander Calder. This is his sculpture, in Chicago.

More cool sculpture from the Chicago trip:


Happy Wednesday  ands to you,
Robin

Catch Up Time

Boy, does work take up a lot of time! And it’s not like I don’t have time off, I do, but I tend to collapse in a heap when it’s all said and done.
So, to catch you up... These are actually from Mary’s (my MIL) birthday in February! I decided to mix the colors up in the vase, and I like the way it looked.

I collect (well, I have three so far) German weather houses. My grandmother had one, which I now have, and I’ve added two more. They just make me think of her and her house and all the warmth that it held. This I bought from a great shop on Etsy called Becaruns. Great prices and a fun selection.  And look how cute this was packaged? Kate thinks so, too.

And here’s the new little house, unwrapped:

My friend Sherri makes Clafoutis all the time. I finally tried one, and it came out pretty good! Not like hers (she’s a great baker!), but okay. I’ll keep trying… This was Julia Child’s recipe – easy, all ingredients go into the blender.

And, now pics of the fur children. How else to end this update, right?
Saylor says, “Is it dinner time?”

And here’s little Tonya Harding, as we like to call her because of the way she dive-bombs poor, sweet Kate. Even though it wasn’t actually Tonya wielding the police baton that hit poor Nancy Kerrigan, it’s the thought that counts! She hired the hit. For this picture, we say: Cat or Otter? We are not sure.

Personally, and it’s not like I’m biased or anything, but I think the caption for Kate’s picture should read: If I were any cuter, they’d have to arrest me. (Said the ridiculously proud Catmom.) Of course, she does now bear the name of royalty. Hee hee.

Sorry I’ve been away so long! Hope you all haven’t forgotten me!
, Robin

Little G. is Fine!

*Evening Update* Well, Dr. Candy (Lewis) gave a glowing report. All went well. And here we have the shaved belly update. She also has this little white spot in the center of her belly, which appears to indicate a belly button, but it is button-less. There’s another white spot, too. James is holding her for the photo, and she really couldn’t care less: good kitty drugs!

She’s already taken a good pull on her metal stitches (only 3!) but that didn’t last long and she doesn’t seem very interested in them. Yay!

There you have it: spayed kitty belly, up close and personal. And thanks for the sweet comments about our fur child. Oh, the lives of us folks without actual kids. Ha!

Posted earlier, pre-pictures: Just a quick update to say that our little Gwynnie is fine. She's out of surgery and recovering all snugged under her blankie at the doctor's office. Pictures will be posted later of the tiny, shaved belly. So sad! When James dropped her off this morning, the staff ooh'd and ahh'd and how beautiful she was. Such a pretty girlie! Okay, lest I should cause hurling with my Momma Cat talk, I'll stop now.

A Big Day for Gwyneth

Our little darling, Gwyneth, is going to Dr. Candy’s tomorrow for her spaying appointment. I’m sure she will be a.o.k., but we will have our positivity hats on nonetheless. We refer to it as, “she’s having her pockets picked.” Poor little thing! I am so weird about any of these things – vaccines included – they seem unnatural to my hippie-at-heart self. You could say I’m anti-synthetic. Of course, we went through a “heat” cycle with Kate! OMG! We about had to bar the windows. She turned into a flying squirrel and climbed the curtains. She also developed a serious and slightly creepy love for James, my human husband. Huh? Finally, that was over and she became Kate Spade.   Wish us well, and I’ll have an update tomorrow.

Rain Rain Rain

It rained buckets this weekend, but it brought many cozy hours of being snugged up inside. We San Diegans are not as used to rain as, say, Floridians (which is what I am at heart). We forget how to drive and we don't own rain gear for the most part. Agghh!

Well, I ask you: where would you want to sleep if you were a little kitty and there was a big warm robe to crawl into? This is a typical scene many mornings and nights here on the couch. Gwyneth is a Daddy's girl.

She often needs a little rest after getting her butt kicked by Kate. We cheer Kate on because Gwyneth is a bit of a dirty fighter. She dive-bombs Kate as Miss K. tries to ignore her - to no avail. But there’s no ignoring Little G.

This is the sign for a fabric store in La Jolla by this restaurant I love to go to for breakfast. I love the old graphics.

And who could pass up snapping a shot of this be-whiskered cat sticker. Nope, not me.

Happy week to everyone. Hope it’s a nice one for us all! I’m expecting some exciting news, so I’ll be sharing that this week I hope!

$410 Scratch Post

I have this idea/dream/thought that once my traditional work years are over (not exactly sure when I deem this time to be – age 65?) that I’ll open an antique store where I will find odd pieces of furniture, maybe on the side of the road even, re-do them, and make a profit. Kind of like these girls if I were even slightly this good – these girls are amazing. So, a couple months ago, hubs and I were driving to the grocery store and I saw an old wingback chair sitting in front of a house – obviously free to anyone who would haul it off. A burned out toaster was next to it. Fast forward, I have it home, I find fabric and an upholsterer, and it’s back all redone in this cool grey men’s suit-ish fabric and ready for … the cats to use it as a scratch post! Aggghhh! Okay, so there’s a sub-plot (isn’t there always?). I fully instructed the reupholster dude to take it down to the wood and replace all foam, padding, etc. before upholstering it. Well, he did, almost! He apparently used some of the old padding, which he claims was just fine. Hm? So after 4 straight days of sniffing the chair, the cats have pretty much claimed it with their claws! They love to scratch it: the front, the back, the arms, the sides – they love to scratch it! For some reason, (perhaps it’s their special scratching technique), it doesn’t leave scratch marks – it just sounds like they’re ripping it to shreds… It’s actually just sitting in the middle of the dining room until I can clear a spot for it. Oh joy. Excuse the blurry picture!

Hi, I’m Gwyneth and I like to…

…do lots of things. But here are a few:
Chew chair legs:
Watch any Youtube with kittens in it:
Drive Kate insane by taking a year to use the litter box:
Sneak onto the bed while Kate is sleeping, because she has to nap when Kate naps. Yes, people, there was some communal napping going on yesterday. All Hail to the Cat Goddesses! If you look closely above the pillow (click photo to enlarge it) you will see the tiny grey head that is Gwyneth. They were asleep until I got the camera to document this demonstration of household Peace.
And a few other things, which have yet to be documented on film:
- Bite on electrical cords.
- Eat the tails off toy mice.
- Bite the corners of pillows.
- Eat the milky remnants of my Mom’s oatmeal in the morning.
And the joy continues every day. Ha!