The Trials and Tribulations of Living With Our Feline Friends

When we moved into this house we installed "kitty proof latches" on all of the lower kitchen cabinet doors except for the two doors directly under the kitchen sink.  The cats were less inclined to open those doors and having latches on them is a little inconvenient.  It didn't take Zoom long to discover that those doors were vulnerable.  She'd pull them open and crawl over all the cleaning supplies and make her way to the very back of the cabinet to the left of the sink.  I knew she was doing it, but since I only stored seasonal things and candles under there I decided to look the other way and let her enjoy her little hideaway.

Last week we were going out and the cabinet door under the kitchen sink was open.  Reid decided to check on Zoom and that's when he called me,  Way in the back of the cabinet was a huge hole with insulation pulled out.

We frantically started looking for Zoom and the rest of the cats.  We were afraid they might be inside the wall.  I think the hole had been cut and patched by the previous owners and Zoom had managed to pull their patch off.  We had never noticed it way back there and when the painters painted the cabinets the patch was painted too which made it even less noticeable.

All the cats were accounted for and we temporarily barricaded the cabinet doors to keep cats out while we were gone.

When we got home we got to work.  I stuffed the insulation back into the wall and vacuumed up the mess.

It was a tight squeeze getting back there.

Zoom watched with interest from her perch.

If I was any bigger I would have had to hire a handy man to do the patch.  I guess he would have ripped out the shelf in order to get back there, but I managed to squeeze.

The first thing I did was put a screen type thing on the hole.  I've patched holes before so I knew what to do.

Zoom continued to watch with interest.

Then we brought out the can of plaster stuff (my technical term).

And I squeezed back in there and spread the plaster stuff all over the screen.

Finished!  You'll have to take my word for it.  It's kind of hard to see in this picture.

Then with Zoom still watching Reid installed "kitty proof latches" on those last two cabinet doors.

It's official...all the cabinet doors are now secure and cat proof.  Zoom will have to find another place to hang out.

Working on my dolls...

A few months ago I was in the resale store and spotted a vintage wicker doll carriage.  It was only $25 and I immediately grabbed it.  Yes, the wicker was coming apart.  No problem I thought.  I used to weave baskets so this should be a fast fix for me.  I'll fix it and then spray paint the entire thing so it blends in.  Then I'll put a childhood baby doll in there.  Perfect!

Of course, I had to order the reed first.  It came and I got out all my old basket weaving tools.

I started weaving and the round reed I was going under and over started to break too.  Oh shoot! (Or similar words.)  Now I have to go back and order some round reed.

Guess this won't be a fast fix after all.

A while back I bought this trailer at Target for my Ginny Dolls.  The scale on the outside is fine, but the interior is a little small for a regular size Ginny.  I know some people ended up buying the trailer for their mini Ginnys, but I've never been a fan of mini Ginny.  I prefer the vintage Ginnys from the 1950's or the reproduction Ginnys.  Anyway, I thought it would work fine in the scenes I enjoy creating for my dolls.

It was fine, but I wanted a vintage Airstream trailer.  Remember them?  Love those awnings.

So, after much masking with tape I created an Airstream trailer for my dolls with a can of spray paint.

All of the masking really paid off.  I didn't get any of the silver paint on the inside.

The whole side of the trailer swings open.  I haven't put the side back on yet.  I want to give the paint a chance to cure.  I also haven't put the kitchen back inside.  I put it in a safe place when I took it out.  It's so safe that now I can't find it.  I'm sure it will show up eventually.

I have plans to decorate the inside a little.  I'm going to add curtains and other touches of home.  As you can see I need to add a license plate on the outside.  I would love to find an Airstream decal to also put on the outside.  My goal is to have it finished by July 4th so the Ginnys can go on vacation.

See the new outfit on my doll?  I'd been admiring it for a while.  I finally bought it.

A week ago we lost Buddy.  He was the sweetest cat, but life had become very difficult for him and it was time. 

He had actually been our next door neighbor's cat, but he kept coming over to our house to eat with our feral cat.  Finally, we put down an extra bowl.  Every morning Buddy showed up.  One morning he wasn't there.  Days went by and still no Buddy.  (We didn't know his name.  We just called him our Buddy.) 

Something told me to look on the Friendswood City website.  There was a picture of Buddy.  He had been picked up by Animal Control.  My husband and I went over to see for sure if it was Buddy.  It was him, but he didn't belong to us.  So, at the suggestion of Animal Control we told the neighbor where her cat was and told her if she didn't want him we would take him.  By then he had been missing for ten days and his time was just about up at Animal Control.  She didn't want him so we adopted him from Animal Control and immediately took him to be fixed.  From that day on he was an indoor cat.  We had him for 14 years.

He was my Buddy.

"Z" as in ZOOM for Alphabe-Thursday

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday.  It's hard to believe we're up to the last letter already.  How time flies!

Fortunately, I have a cat named ZOOM.  I believe I've used her for the letter "Z" in the past, but since I have nothing else prepared I'm going with ZOOM again.

ZOOM is a killer.  Thank goodness!

She came into our lives shortly after Hurricane Ike in 2008.  I was shopping at my favorite resale shop when I was approached by a man in the parking lot.  He was holding a tiny bundle of gray fur and told me he had found her behind the shopping center.  He asked if I would drop her off someplace for him.  I started to walk away and then I looked back and saw how sick she appeared.  I just couldn't walk away, so I took her from him and drove straight to my Veterinarian's office.

She sat on my lap and attempted to play with the seat belt.  Both of her eyes were runny and the one was covered with a white film.  She had a respiratory infection and an infection in both eyes.  She weighed less than a pound.

They thought she might lose the one eye, but slowly both eyes improved.  She ate like she was starving (and she was), and she quickly put on weight.  Her respiratory infection improved, but then she relapsed and had to go back on the antibiotic for a second round.

She still has runny eyes, but they say she must have picked up a cat herpes infection too.  She'll always have the runny eyes, but they're not too bad.

She's become a holy terror.  We joke that normal people never would have kept her.  I have to warn people when they come in the house not to touch her.  She'll come over and roll around on the floor by their feet.  She looks adorable, but watch out!  If anyone tries to pet her she'll attack.  She's a terror.

Fortunately, we're not normal people.  We love ZOOM and she's here to stay.

There's never a dull moment. (She must have mistaken the roll of paper towels for a roll of toilet paper.)

Now please head over to Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent" for a list of this week's participants.

Hurry back Ms. Jenny!

Thank you for visiting.

My Gracie Girl...

It was the night before Thanksgiving 1993 and the doorbell rang.  One of Reid's high school friends was standing there with a kitten.  As he approached our front porch he had noticed a kitten sleeping on the lap of a scarecrow that I had sitting on a bale of hay.  He brought the kitten inside and she never left.  She had found her forever home.

We went around the neighborhood trying to determine if she belonged to anyone.  A couple of people told us she belonged to someone on the next block, but they were away for Thanksgiving.  When they came home we were told that she was a stray that had been hanging around and they had fed her once in a while, but weren't interested in keeping her.  So, we became her people and named her Grace.  After all, Grace always comes before Thanksgiving dinner.

Yesterday, Grace's time on earth came to an end.  She would have been 21 years old this summer.  We figured she was 3 to 4 months old that November evening, so she was probably born in July or August of 1993.

In recent years she had become thinner, but never really acted like and old cat until the last couple of weeks.  I noticed she was drinking more water and the Veterinarian said it was probably to compensate as her kidneys slowly started to fail.  She stopped eating a week ago and we tried everything to get her to eat, but it was all in vain.  It was her time.

I'm afraid I was lulled into thinking that she'd go on forever.  She had been doing so well as an old cat and I had hoped she'd set some kind of longevity record.

She was such a sweet cat and never a bit of trouble.  She loved our dogs and would spend time grooming them.  They loved it.  Here she is with Shelby.

After Shelby died she did the same thing with Sophie.  In fact, as recently as a couple of weeks ago she was grooming Sophie.

She never really liked being held, but she loved  to be pet.  She would hit my leg or arm with her paw to let me know.  As she grew older I always stopped what I was doing to pet her.  The night before she died she slowly walked over to me and I sat on the bedroom floor and pet her for about a half an hour. Then she decided it was enough and went back to her bed.  By morning her condition had really deteriorated and I brought her to the Veterinarian for the last time.  It was the least I could do for my good old friend.

I've been looking through old pictures and I can't find any photographs from 1993.  I know they must be in a box somewhere.  It was long before we moved to digital.  I'm sure I'll find some pictures of her as a kitten one of these days.

I do have some of my favorites saved though.

  For a while she liked sitting in the warm dryer.  She was a very young cat here.

Here she is watching some Peregrine Falcons on a webcam.  This might have been around 2000.

Checking out some of my doll stuff.

Sleeping with Zoom - 2010.

I'm going to really miss her, but I like to think she's with Jim now.  He used to like to tell me that he had one dog and I had the cats.  One year I gave him a plaque that said, "Heaven's the place where all the dogs you've ever loved come to greet you."  He took it into the office.  After he died the people at work packed up his office.  In one of the boxes I found the plaque. He had taken a piece of paper and written the words "and cats" and taped it to the plaque so it now read, "Heavens the place where all the dogs and cats you've every loved come to greet you."  He loved the cats just as much as the dogs.  He never had me fooled.

I'll miss my Gracie Girl (that was my pet name for her), but I know she's in good hands.

Never a dull moment...

We've been home a little over a week and things certainly haven't been dull around here.

I had another cat get sick.  I really don't understand what's going on.  Normally our animals are all quite healthy, but while Reid was away Sophie (our dog) and then Roscoe (one of the cats) came down with urinary track infections.  Since we've been home Zoom (our little terror cat) also developed a urinary track infection and she refuses to eat.  That has meant daily trips to the Veterinarian for feedings and fluids.  She's on antibiotics and obviously feeling much better, but she still won't eat.  I'd be a lot more concerned if she wasn't acting quite normal in every other way.  I did see improvement this morning when she licked a little food off my finger, but that's still not really eating.  So, I'll have to take her for more food and fluids a little later.

Meanwhile, my 19 year old cat has personal problems.  Poor Grace is constipated again and will also be seeing the Veterinarian a little later.

Reid continues to do well.  All of his blood work looks very good and I believe the doctor is pleased with his progress so far.  The big problem is the constant fatigue.  He wants to do more, but then does and becomes exhausted.  He no longer needs the weekly IV, so last Wednesday we celebrated by going to Kenny and Ziggy's for lunch after his appointment at MD Anderson.  It was the first time Reid has eaten in a restaurant since before he entered the hospital on December 15th.  In fact, it was his first venture out in public.  We tried to go at a time when Reid wouldn't be exposed to too many people, but that place always seems to get busy!  Kenny and Ziggy's is located in Houston near The Galleria and is a NY Delicatessen type restaurant.  (My kind of place!)  The servings are huge and we got two more meals out of our leftovers!

Did you see 20/20 last Friday with Robin Roberts?  (The link will take you to hulu.com and the 20/20 broadcast.)  If you did, you should have a good idea of what Reid has been through, only he's been through two stem cell transplants within the last two years.  A stem cell transplant and a bone marrow transplant are basically the same thing.

I've been following Robin's progress closely since she's about three months ahead of Reid in her recovery.  Her transplant was on September 20, 2012 and Reid's was on December 21, 2012.  It was really exciting to see her return to Good Morning America.  Her situation and Reid's were so similar.  Both of them were very fortunate to have a sibling that was a match.  I've read that only 25% of patients have a close relative that matches, but I heard Robin say it's 30%.  Regardless, most people aren't as fortunate as them.  Then Robin lost her mother right before her transplant and we lost Jim right before we learned that Reid had relapsed.  So, there are definite similarities.  I'm thrilled to see Robin doing so well.

We did have a few moments of panic this morning when Reid couldn't find his bottle of Tacro which is the anti-rejection medication.  He hadn't needed it in almost a week because he had a pill box full of all his medications.  It was only when he needed to refill the box that he couldn't locate the bottle. He does carry the bottle down to the hospital on appointment days because he can't take a pill until after the blood draw.  No sense in carrying the whole pill box when the bottle of Tacro fits easily in his pocket.  We knew he had it last Wednesday and finally found it in the car.  What a relief since he can't miss a single dose and it would have meant a trip down there today.

Anyway, things are settling down a little and I've been trying to catch up on lost sleep.  It's not unusual for me to indulge in an afternoon nap.  I have a hundred things I should be doing around here, but right now those naps are a luxury that I'm enjoying.

Alphabe-Thursday..."S" as in S'mores

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent."  Today we are studying the letter "S" as in S'mores.  I love S'mores...don't you?

A while back (maybe a year ago) I stumbled across a recipe for You're Killin' Me Smalls (my son tells me that's a line from a movie) on someones blog.  Basically, these were S'more cupcakes.  It isn't a blog that I have saved, so I had to go do a google search in order to find it again so I could give credit where credit is due.  The blog is Lessons Of A Newlywed, but I don't know the author's name.

Anyway, I decided to finally bake them for this week's Alphabe-Thursday post.  Bake and test.  The sacrifices I make for Alphabe-Thursday.  I baked them this morning and  immediately ate two of them for you.  They were very good although I would make a couple of minor changes next time.

You can find the complete recipe here.

The main ingredients are French Vanilla cake mix, graham cracker crumbs, Hershey's Kisses and Marshmallow Creme.  Before baking you push a Hersey's Kiss into each cupcake.

 Then you sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on the top.

Bake them and then add some Marshmallow Creme on the top.  Return to oven to melt.

OK, but I wanted it to look more like S'mores.  So, I stuck them under the broiler for a short while.  I don't know how long because I just watched them carefully until they started to turn brown.  Some did brown more than others, but I think that's just the heating coil in my oven.  I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure if the cupcake liners could catch on fire, but they didn't.  (Try this at your own risk.)

Next time I'm going to add two Hershey Kisses to each one or maybe even a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup.  I would have preferred a little more of a chocolate taste.  The gal who originally posted this recipe said she used chocolate chips in each one because she didn't have any Hersey Kisses on hand.  I might try that too.

While I was making these I caught Shelby stealing dog treats.  Zoom opened the cabinet and Shelby managed to get the cover off of her treats.  I don't know how many she got before I noticed, but I took this picture after I put the cover back on. Afterwards I secured the cabinet doors with a rubber band.  I need to buy another child proof latch.  We used to have one on this cabinet until it broke.

Meanwhile, I don't get online a whole lot these days.  I've been trying to get things done around here that have been left for too long.  Last Fall we got a new backdoor and although it was primed it needed to be painted.  I noticed some mold on the woodwork around the door, so I bleached it and then painted the trim and door.  That was a good chunk of two days.

 I still have to do the inside...groan.

I've also been getting some things done around the yard.  Our backyard has a lot of shade.  I came up with this idea for a mobile vegetable garden.  Every couple of hours I go out and move the wagon as the sun goes across the sky.  I'm trying to give these little buggers six hours of sun a day.   I'm not sure I can keep this up when the weather turns hot, but I'll try.  I actually took this picture a few days ago and they've all grown since then!  I've got a tomato plant, two tomatillo plants, and two jalapeno plants.  Blackie is keeping her eye on them for me.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog so you can visit some more Alphabe-Thursday posts.

Is the drought ending???

I read in the newspaper that today they might declare our year long drought over.  I forget who makes the declaration, but someone in the know decides.

We've had quite a bit of rain lately.  Yesterday, I looked out in the backyard and thought I saw an animal back by the tree stump.  I thought it might be an armadillo, but they normally don't come out during the day.

Blackie came to help me investigate.

Everything is bigger in Texas.  Even ugly wild mushrooms!  (Please excuse my naughty gnome.)

Can you grow mushrooms like this where you live?