A Hello

Late last week I lost my much loved cat Grace after 10 years.  As sad and heartbreaking as the loss of a beloved pet is, we are thankful that it was a swift and peaceful goodbye after a long love-filed life.

Because my dear husband knows me so well and knows my heart needs often better than I do, Steve took me to the Monadnock Humane Society on Friday afternoon to look around.  These are the wonderful people we thank for Ben's little fur-baby Fender.  It's an amazing place and the staff is outstanding.

In my head I thought we'd look for a long-haired kitten, as we had seen with Fender and Saffron that a kitten introduced into a new household is a fairly easy thing - albeit a lot of work on our part for care and supervision, etc.  They only had one little bitty baby (short-hair) and she was on hold for another family.  So we wandered all around the facility and discovered several good sized rooms full of adult cats.  One room seemed to have an abundance of long-haired beauties lounging around, so we went in to visit.

We read bios taped to the wall and matched name tags on the fuzzies to their stories.  Then a volunteer came in and explained to us that this large group had only come to the shelter at the beginning of December as a transfer from Canada.  There had been about 100 cats seized from a hoarding situation and they had been held as 'evidence' in the legal case for a very long time.  The wonderful people at MHS had taken a portion of the group to find loving forever homes for these beautiful cats.

After petting and holding a few, we found her... they called her Tabouli, but I call her Gypsy and she seems to like her new name.

She is very petite (just over 7lbs) and has green/gold eyes and beautiful black fur marbled with caramel colored markings.  They say she is a black & orange Tortoiseshell but I think she's just plain pretty.  Adjustment is going to be slow for everyone, but I think we are all going to get along just fine eventually.  

A Christmas blessing to swell my heart from the man who loves me so and always wants to make me smile.  I am a most blessed wife.

Blessings on the journey,

A Sad Goodbye

10 years ago this month we brought Grace home from the ARL shelter.  She was a unique cat, beautifully fluffy and petite and though shy at first, obviously a people oriented cat that had chosen our family to be her own.

Grace's first Christmas with us - 2004

Today she went to wherever it is that good pets go when they pass on from this life.  I like to think that there is a special place in heaven for our animals, though scripture doesn't speak to that specifically.  I trust that the one who loved me enough to let me enjoy Grace's company in this life will possibly allow me to see her again at some point.... God is good all the time and He comforts those who mourn.  A promise for which I am very thankful today.

Grace will be missed dreadfully... our hoity-toity beautiful fur-baby.

I'm thankful for my dear daughter who came with me this morning to the vet and to our awesome vet Dr. Nancy who was so kind during a very difficult morning.

The Look

Saffron - Photo by Steve Wolfe

Crazy Cat Family

I'm Fender - newest fur-baby

We are on our way to becoming one of those crazy families with way too many pets.  Yep - we have added yet another fur-baby to our home which is already over-run with pet hair. *shrug*  If your allergic and want to come visit - take your meds before you come.  Life with pet hair is normal here but we do keep a ready supply of those sticky rollers to de-fuzz yourself when you leave.  You're welcome!

I like to watch the birds in my little bitty kitty bed.

Piper & Saffron hanging out

cats are partially liquid in the sunshine (Saffron, Fender, & Grace)

Yep - Fender on Piper's dog bed with Saffron hanging out nearby

Fender is B's kitten (soon-to-be cat).  Gray tabby with no fear!  She is named after his guitar and was adopted from the Monadnock Humane Society - they are nice people and you should check them out if you are in search of a furry family member.

A Window with a View

In the back part of our 'family room' is a bay window that looks out to the back yard.  It has a nice wide shelf which tends to collect books and other things.  It gets sun most of the day and has a terrific view of the bird feeders.  Both Saffron & Grace have decided it is a nice place to spend part of the day... and who could blame them?

Saffron (aka Orange Kitten Baby)

Grace

Odd Cat

Crazy random photos -

After seeing me post this photo on Facebook, one of Steve's running friends told him "That is one odd little cat you have." Yes - she is sitting in a trashcan in the bathroom.  We don't know why.

Yes - those are Steve's ratty old work shorts and that is the odd orange kitten peeking out.  Seems it was a comfy spot.

Saffron is just the newest addition to the pet-insanity that we live with here... and we love her.  She is lots of fun even if she doesn't really know her name and seems to think we all exist simply to feed her and provide a lap to sleep on when she needs one.

Rare & Elusive

A photo of all of us together - even Piper with her favorite red ball.

One Orange Cat

In December (2011) we adopted an adorable orange kitten - mostly for J, but we all love her.  Saffron joined us and was so cute and snuggly we could hardly contain ourselves.

 So tiny & cute!

In January she managed to do something that I didn't think cats could do - she fell and broke her leg.  Requiring surgery, and lots of extra TLC and work for J.

 Bad haircut!

Isn't she pitiful with her cone and having to be caged?

So fast forward to the end of March.  Saffron is now 6 months old and full of personality... or perhaps just attitude.  She has 2 speeds, FAST and OFF.  She is either going full-tilt tearing around the house into everything or she is flopped someplace sleeping.  She seems to take little notice of us unless she wants a lap to lie on or food. 

 Saffron LOVES the heat vent

She tackles Grace whenever she finds the opportunity - which to a civilized fluffy cat is dreadfully undignified and results in somersaults and hissing in the youngster's direction.  Sometimes it will result in Saffron being pinned down and forcibly bathed by Grace in seeming punishment for such disrespectful actions.  It's pretty funny to watch them.
But they do seem to love one another and we often find them curled up on the bed or on top of the little kitty-condo.

Everything is a toy to Saffy.  She loves to bat around anything that she can find, running, crashing into things and making a racket generally.  She loves to play in plastic bags & boxes.  Sits in front of my computer monitor and bats at the cursor as it moves across the screen.  Over & under, in & out, up & down - she is a very busy kitty! 

6 months old

We love this crazy orange cat.

Piper

 

Isn't she a pretty (big) yellow dog?  I just love this big goofy rug of a dog.

Bratty Cat

I just found this photo of our cat Grace and wanted to share it.  She really is a brat, but we love her dearly.

Goodbye is really hard

Today we had to say goodbye to one of our dogs.  Molly was our 9 year old coonhound mix.  She had congestive heart failure and died with Steve and I and the younger 2 kids sitting with her at our vet's office early this afternoon.
She was a good dog, we loved her dearly and this is really hard.

Testing some photo stuff

Trying to figure out some new photo stuff... testing it out with pictures of our pets.

This flattened pile of fur is Grace - our very spoiled cat. This is her preferred position, next would be eating, meowing at one of us and then 'making bread' on someone's chest.

This is Molly - our 'cranky old lady' - she is an equally spoiled pet. Coonhound mix, 9 years old, also in her preferred position. 2/3rds of our pets like to sleep more than anything.

This is Piper - our newest addition. She is an enormous yellow lab (between 90-100lbs) and pictured here waiting for someone to pick up her favorite ball where she has dropped it off the deck. She is HIGHLY motivated by a red kong ball - it is her favorite thing.

This is Piper in her 2nd favorite activity. Yes, that is a stainless steel dog bowl in her mouth. She LOVES to chase the bowl in the snow - because the ball gets lost underneath while the bowl will slide along the top and is easy to find. It also makes a highly annoying clang-clang-clang sound on the deck as she bangs it around repeatedly.