May 2023- Kittens, kittens.

Jillian here. Hoping you’re having a great May so far. Mine has not been so hot but we do have cute little kittens here at the office who make me smile. This mother cat has already had one litter before but she hid the babies so we couldn’t socialize them. Before we could get her to get her spayed, she was pregnant again. I had no idea cats could get pregnant quite so frequently.

This time, when we knew she was close to delivery, we put her in the filing room at the office. She had three babies who look exactly like the three she had previously. She at least is faithful to her man, right? 🙂

These babies are four weeks old. The white one talks a lot and wants to explore every thing. It loves to be petted, too. The grey tabby is playful and likes to romp around and the orange one is the most quiet of the three. They are sweet. We can’t keep them but we have enjoyed them for these weeks. Two weeks from now, we hope to have found them nice places to live.

Here are some pics. They are wiggly and hard to capture. Momma is in one of the photos, too. She is also sweet. But she does steal food from some of the other cats we feed here. 🙂

Happy- Or Hoppy- Easter

Jillian here. Sorry I missed my day to blog last month. Hobbes had just had surgery and he was a miserable kitty who wouldn’t sleep alone and I spent five nights sleeping on the couch with him while he moaned and groaned about the collar he had to wear. I walked around in a daze at work for that week and didn’t even realize the 9th of the month passed until the 12th. Pretty crazy, I know.

Today is Easter and I hope those of you who celebrate are having a nice holiday. Now that we don’t have small children and don’t do the egg dying and hunting thing, it’s a pretty quiet day. We have dinner at my parents’ home and enjoy the whole turkey with fixings meal as if it was thanksgiving all over again. My mom makes the best gravy and the best deviled eggs so I am sure to indulge in those.

We used to go to the sun rise (or SON-rise) service at my church but they stopped doing it. I always loved that service as it was set to start before the sun was up and the sun came up just as it was ending– at the final hymn–beautiful. And then there was the pancake breakfast…

One thing I love about Easter is the availability of Starburst jelly beans. They have a bag of all reds that we stock up on while we can. They used to only be sold at Target but now you can get them other places. I am proud of myself this year. I bought 6 bags and have not eaten one. Not one, single jelly bean. I’m still trying to lose weight and cut down on sugar. But I do think I might cave before the day is over and eat a few. We’ll see.

Passover was also this week. My daughter-in-law is Jewish so they do both a Seder and an Easter celebration. They went on an egg hunt in their community park last weekend and her brother’s girlfriend gave birth to their second daughter on Passover. A sweet new little girl for my son and DIL to be aunt and uncle to and a new cousin for Benjamin.

Whatever holiday you celebrate, I hope you have a blessed day full of love and happiness. And go get you some Starburst red jelly beans—you won’t regret it.

January Hijack by Hobbes

Hobbes here. Jillian is a bit stressed over a litany of things happening in her life so I told her I’d take over her post this month—actually, I hijacked it. 😀 I know I haven’t helped her out much lately other than to sit on her head in the mornings to wake her up, knock things off the table for her to pick up and constantly assist her in exercising by having her get up and down to open the door to let me out on the porch or back into the house. I’m pretty helpful that way. 

We’re in a new year now but man, did we have some adventure—well, I did—in December. 

It started the month the Sunday after that weekend they call Thanksgiving when the humans brought in the tree. I love, love the tree. I don’t know why they don’t leave it up all the time. They put this brown blanket under it and I love snoozing under the limbs with the scent of pine— or whatever that tree is—in my nose. Maybe a fir? Doesn’t matter. I love it. I never mess with the pretty baubles on it. I’m dignified like that. 

Wrapping boxes is another thing Jillian does while that tree is up. Don’t know why. It’s kind of a weird habit. She hides them under the tree like she thinks no one will see them there. She also gets a bit peeved at me while I help. I mean, she needs that tape and the scissors batted to the floor, right? And the pen she uses to write on sticky little sheets of paper is just so tempting. It rolls quite nicely. Biting the paper and sitting on it to cut it for her is also fun but she fusses at me to get off of it. Testy woman. 

The biggest adventure of the month was this small human coming to visit with his parents. He squealed every time he saw me and chased me. Little terror, he is. I tell ya. I’d get the nerve to venture out of hiding and, as soon as he spied me, he was after me. Crazy little human. He also couldn’t say Hobbes so he called me Bob. Bob? Oh the indignity. 

They stayed for what seemed forever but Jillian said was only seven days. God created the world in seven days but I bet his seven were more peaceful than mine even with all the work he was doing. 

Anyway, they eventually went home and I was able to enjoy free rein in the house again without living in fear of a tiny human chasing me and yelling, “Bob.”

Life is sort of back to normal now. They just took my tree outside after Epiphany so, I’m sad about that and about the brown blanket being back in that cabinet at the end of the hallway. 

Here’s a picture of me hiding on Jillian’s bed on my favorite blanket, with the door closed, so the Bob fanatic would leave me alone. 

Happy New Year to all. Hobbes

April Showers… and all that jazz

Jillian here! Happy April – We have already had a lot of flowers blooming here- Azaleas (see below) and Japanese magnolias are always early here- March-and then they are gone for a while- We have weird weather in the spring- some days it’s 80 and others it is 40. We always, always, always get a cold snap right before Easter- no planting veggie gardens until after Good Friday is the rule here because no matter when Easter falls, we will have a cold snap- or even frost- around Good Friday. This year was no exception. 🙂

The last two days, we’ve had the April showers in abundance – it has been as dark as night when it’s time to get up and that really messes me up as I think I have more time to sleep 🙂 Hobbes is even off kilter with his crepuscular behavior. He’s chillin’ in the photo- like the boss he is!

My day job that I do for the federal government requires that I am audited every 2-4 years and this week was that joyful occasion (NOT!) – I’m always confident that all the banking is good, but they always have some kind of findings on record-keeping (it’s a CPA thing- I know, as I am married to one) 🙂 It’s like being in school again and realizing there is a final exam that morning and not only haven’t I studied, I seem to have missed class all semester- 🙂 In other words, it causes me stress and angst.

The good news: It ended yesterday and the findings were very minor – and nothing I anticipated 🙂 Typical. Thus, the no chance to study fear. And I can breathe again for a few years. 🙂

Enjoy the April showers and await, with anticipation, the May flowers.

Happy May – Time Flies

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Jillian here. Happy May. I hope everyone is healthy and happy in this (already!) fifth month of the year. Can you believe how fast the year is going? Sure, some days are super long, but looking back, the weeks have … Continue reading →

Cats RULE!

Jillian here!  Happy Monday-  Or is that an oxymoron?? I’m not having a bad day and hope none of you are either. Hobbes is a bit upset with me, but it’s really his fault. I was trying to get something out of the refrigerator and he put himself under my foot. Really– I swear that’s what happened. By his reaction though- it was as if I’d taken aim and tried to demolish him….. wait….hellllp…

Hobbes here-  I just shoved that woman away from the keyboard. She’s in big trouble. I may never speak to her again… stepping on me like that…what was she thinking? She’s as big as a moose and I can’t help it if she can’t see. I’ve been trying to tell her she needs to go have her contacts upgraded if she’s that pitiful at seeing such a handsome guy as me.  AND I know she was going to pour milk in her glass….and not share one bit with lil ole me.  Shame on her.

As soon as she stepped on my toe, she tried to capture me and who knows what she’d have done next? She pretended to want to apologize, and who knows? She might have meant it, but you know what? I have to show her who runs this taco stand. She must be given the silent treatment….at least until she comes home from work this afternoon and opens the snack bar.

Shhhh.  Don’t tell her my belly and I are going to forgive her….Let her sweat-  that’ll be easy since it’s still in the 90’s here.

Hobbes: Over and out.  Happy September… Nap time for all good kitties!

Of April Rain, Cold, Audits and Lemons

Jillian here. April thus far has been interesting here in the panhandle of Florida. It’s been abnormally cold. We always get a lot of rain in the merry month of April (yeah, I know the poem says May) but this year, it’s different as it’s not a warm rain. The days are not sunny and lovely (not many anyway); rather, they are cold and overcast. It’s been in the 40s Fahrenheit at night and we even had a fire in the fireplace yesterday as it never got much over 45 all day with the overcast skies. My son was shocked when he saw I’d made a fire. He said, “It’s April, Mom.” My response, “And I’m cold.”

We had torrential rain already on several days and Saturday, the 7th was especially heinous. Hobbes wouldn’t even get out of the bed. Poor thing.

I have a position I have to be audited in every four years. It’s never a bad thing but it is stressful to have someone going through your records and giving you a grade on how you’re doing. That was last week, so I am in the clear for four more years. I collapsed when it was over on Friday and didn’t do much all weekend. I watched my beloved Liverpool play on Saturday (Had to get up at 6:30 am for that) and read a book by Christopher Fowler. He’s such a great story teller. This was a book from the year 2000 called Calabash.

Today, I went to lunch at Sonny’s BBQ and ordered iced tea. The waitress asked if I wanted lemons. I said no.  She not only ignored that, she brought not one, but two glasses of tea with three lemon slices each. When I was ready to leave, she brought me another in a takeaway cup with three more slices of lemon.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her I didn’t want all that so I left them in the drink. I think that qualifies for my good deed of the day, doesn’t it?

Stay warm, my friends! 

Dude, Where’s My Mom?

Hobbes here. On the prowl for Dude. My human mom, Jillian, went missing the week of September 21st and I heard a rumor (and even saw photographic evidence) that she was hanging out with Laurie’s cat, Dude.

the evidence

This did not make me happy. I was kind of glad to hear when Laurie and Lavada took Mom (a/k/a the can opener) to the Space Needle and the fish market that Dude had to stay home. Too bad, so sad, Dudester, no fish for you.

Hey, wait one second. You know what? She didn’t bring me back any either. Hmmm. I may have to go claw a piece of furniture over that slight.

I also heard no cats got to make the trip to Mount Rainier. Mom said it was gorgeous and I sure would have liked a chance to loll in front of the fireplace in the lodge there. But at least Dude didn’t get to either, right?

I’m sure when Mom, Laurie and Laurie’s wicked cool husband visited Lavada’s house, they would’ve had to sneak Dude past the home owners association – his fur is probably the wrong color, right? My black and white color scheme would surely pass approval. Poor Dude. He’s pretty but you know how those associations can be.

Mom says the state Capitol building was beautiful and the old houses were really nice. She really liked downtown Olympia and dining near the falls. In fact, she was fed pretty nicely the whole trip. Bet she never thought of poor ole me starving to death at home. The man who lives here isn’t such a softie when it comes to me needing a snack.

Mom had a great time on her trip but I can’t help but think it would’ve been better for her to stay here and make sure I had enough to eat. Dude and I have that in common. We don’t like it when the can openers leave town.

Mom told me that despite my opinion to the contrary, I  am NOT the boss of her and she will go wherever and whenever she pleases.

We’ll just see about that. Won’t we?

Hobbes out!

The trio

The Day After Mother’s Day

Since all but one of our kids do not live close anymore, my Mother’s Day is a wonderful mix of visiting with my own mother and relaxed conversations with the kids over the phone or Skype.

I love that contact. One of the few fun things about aging is getting to see our children and their families thrive. It’s an amazing thing to watch.

I also love that my husband gives me the best gift every year on this day…weather permitting. This is the day we get the deck furniture out. I can sit in our swing and work, or read, or just watch the grass grow. I call it our swing very, umm, quietly, since this is also Dude’s favorite day of the year, too…and his favorite piece of furniture. He is 17 pounds and king of his domain and will lay on that swing for hours keeping watch. Okay, so maybe he naps more than he keeps watch. Lol.

Speaking of Dude, we’ve had some issues lately. There are a couple new tomcats in the area and Dude has been defending his territory with sound and action. I didn’t know these noises could come out of a cat! First, that low, low growl. Then, as the fur flies, that high-pitched screech. Ugh. I can’t get him to understand pacifism. He’s such a laid back kitty normally, but he’ll not tolerate having to share his space, I guess. I’m praying it settles down, though. Dude is my cuddle-bug (please don’t tell him I called him that), and I don’t really want him to turn aggressive.

Well, that’s about it for our neck of the woods for now. I hope you all had a nice, sunshiny weekend and got to play in the dirt (with the flowers) or do something that feeds your soul.

Have a great week!

Mia – My Mother’s New (to her) Cat

I’m currently waiting for a call from my daughter saying she’s in labor (she’s not…yet). She’s due February 18th and I am on a plane ASAP when that call comes in. 🙂  In the meantime, I’ll talk about the newest edition that HAS arrived in our family. Our mother’s new cat. New to her, anyhow.

After missing her cat, Henry, who passed a couple years ago, Mom seemed ready for a new companion, and we “kids” jumped on it. My sister took Mom to the local rescue place two days after Christmas and Mia came home with Mom that day.

Mia is about ten years old and the sweetest, gentlest cat I’ve ever known. She’s perfect for Mom. Mia’s favorite places are on Mom’s lap and sleeping above her head or next to her leg. She’d sleep ON Mom’s leg if she could, but there are limits, eh?

Anyhow, I couldn’t write about Mia until now because there were issues and I needed to know the outcome would be good, which it is.

We had a horrible time getting Mia to eat. The prior owner had written down the food Mia was used to. Over the course of 4 weeks, Mia ate hardly anything. We tried what she was used to, plus 2 or 3 other brands. Different types of canned food, too. Even drizzling tuna juice didn’t work. Nor did human food. We zapped stuff in the microwave for a few seconds to enhance the scent. Mom smeared it on her paw (she DID lick that off).

Mia was drinking water, but simply would not eat. For FOUR weeks. Mom counted out kibbles and they were still there in the morning. The vet said she had to be getting food from somewhere or wouldn’t be alive after 4 weeks. They did an xray and found a dime-sized stone in her bladder, but didn’t think that would keep her from eating.

Mia and Mom at one of several vet visits.

Four vet visits later, and a drop of almost 3 pounds, from 12+ to 9ish, we were desperate. They didn’t want to put her through the trauma of surgery if she wouldn’t eat. So we started a medicine that is an appetite stimulant. I’m not sure how long that stuff takes to kick in, but one day later, Mia still wasn’t eating.

So Mom put her plate on the floor with a few chicken leftovers and was shocked to see Mia gobble them up. She switched the cat food from bowls to plates, and Mia has been eating ever since! It’s amazing!

Now, she’s still on the appetite stimulant, so we’re honestly not sure what did the trick, the meds or the plate. Could plate vs. bowl really be enough of a deterrent for a cat? We had tried different bowls, but never tried a plate. Gees.

Anyhow, it’s been two weeks since Mia started eating. She’s gaining weight. Loving Mom’s lap, her favorite place to be, and successfully had surgery this last week to remove the stone.

All seems to be well with Mia, and as a family, we are so, so grateful. The bonding between Mom and her kitty was immediate and deep and we all hope they get many good years together.

Welcome to the family, Mia!