Lazing Not Freezing

And *this* is how to spend a subfreezing 9°F Friday morning, with light snow drifting down!

Snowy Saturday

Chilly 27°F Saturday, and heading down to 9° tonight. It’s been snowing lightly for most of the day. The kitties enjoyed the view from the breakfast nook door out to the deck, which was busy with squirrels and birds. 

I enjoyed today’s snow from the comfort of the DC-3 cockpit while flying in Alaska, on my way from Cold Bay to Dutch Harbor. The overcast and visibility in Dutch Harbor were both too low to safely complete the instrument approach. I gave it a couple of tries, then resolved to head somewhere else, when suddenly the simulator retrieved a weather update…

Suddenly the sky cleared, which made the approach and landing a piece of cake. Good flying karma today… Then I went out and shoveled some of the light fluffy stuff off of the driveway…

Beginning of decorating

We started decorating the house for the Christmas holiday today. The kitties have been paying close attention to all the changes. Here’s Rufus exploring the tree skirt. 

Bean checking out the nutcrackers

Rufus getting in the way in the kitchen

Rufus in an ornament box

Christmas tree with lights in the breakfast nook

Christmas tree closeup - needles and lights

Christmas tree in the front yard with lights and snow

Flash Bang Smoke!

An intense storm cell just moved through here, leaving some shock and awe in its wake. I was gazing out my window, looking away from my Flight Simulator DC-3 flight, and watching my next door neighbor’s construction materials blowing around, when my window suddenly got so bright I couldn’t see, and at the same time I was surprised by the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. The first thing I did, is check on Jennefer and the kitties, who were fine, but the cats were on the floor looking up at me with a questioning tilt to their heads. I tried to assure them that all was OK, when my phone rang, and my neighbor across the street told me they thought my house was on fire, as they could see and smell smoke. I hurried outside while calling 911, and walked around my house, smelling a strong smoke smell, but didn’t see anything on fire, or even any concentrated smoke, although there was definitely a light smoke haze drifting around. The Emergency operator transferred me to the Fire department, who said that someone in the next neighborhood over had reported a fire, and they were responding. They asked me if I saw smoke or flames, and I had to say no. They said call back if you do, otherwise you’re probably smelling the neighbor’s house on fire. It’s been quite a while now, and still no sign of smoke or flames here, so I guess we’re good! It appears they got the neighbor’s house put out right away, as I’m not smelling smoke any more. Wow. So much for a quiet afternoon! 🤷‍♂️

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Independence Day! Please treat your pets especially well today, as many have a rough time with the legal and illegal fireworks. 

Our kitties got through the first round of fireworks ok… but after several days of illegal fireworks in nearby neighborhoods, they were over it, and getting skittish and on alert.

Post-Snow Friday

 

It's a beautiful 23-44° partly sunny Friday in Littleton! 

 

The snow remaining on my deck looks nice, but the depth is laughable, in comparison to the photos my friend in Highland Ranch has been posting. 

 

The birds are happy that all the snow has melted off their feeders. The Bird Buddy’s solar cell roof has continued to keep its battery fully charged all year. 

 

It’s pretty breezy out there, but my weather station is still clogged with snow, so the anemometer is currently useless. 

 

The kitties are happily entangled while snoozing as we enjoy our breakfast.

Return from Omaha

So, we got to the house in Omaha this morning, to pick up Jennefer’s new flame point kitty (apparently, not to be found anywhere near Denver), and also met his sibling. 🐈🐈

The plan was to choose one of them, but they were both so darned cute, and everybody was concerned about separating them, since they’ve really bonded. So, I said, “Hey, let’s take them both, and do our best to give them a great home!” 🤦‍♂️

Both kitties did really well on the long drive home. We learned that one is a great adventurer, and insists on telling the entire world about it. His favorite place was on the shoulders of the passenger. The other is quiet and shy but cuddly. He would camp out for hours in my lap when I was driving. Occasionally the adventurer would join us. 

We’re finally home safe, after a moment of high anxiety along the way. With both cats in the car, we stopped for gas a couple of times. About an hour and a half after the last stop in Julesberg, we realized that we hadn’t seen the second kitty for awhile, which is not that unusual, as they like to wander the car. But they would eventually settle down someplace in sight, sometimes for hours, often in a lap. But this one wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and we decided we needed to know where he was, before we went any farther. We stopped by the side of the road, and tore the car apart, trying to find him. He was not to be found. 😱

We began to doubt our sanity, and wondered if he had snuck out at the last gas stop in Julesburg. We were back in the car, and preparing to turn around for the extra three hour round-trip, to see if we could find him at the gas station, knowing full well the odds were almost zero. 🥺

Then, Jennefer had the brilliant idea to feel all the way around way back under the rear seats, in some nooks and crannies where we couldn’t see, and, wonder of wonders, there was a furball under there. OMG, the relief was tremendous! 🎉 🎈

 Whew. Sooo glad to be home. And now our new kitties are excitedly exploring their new space. And we’re steeling ourselves for this new phase of our lives…

Cleo lab work

Sep 13 am: Terrible news this morning, from Cleo’s bloodwork follow-up. The lab results indicate that she has so many things wrong in addition to the stomach tumor, such as her kidney failure that is now advanced, and severe anemia exacerbated by a stomach bleed, that she’s probably going to be in a lot of discomfort for the rest of her life. They’re recommending euthanasia. Jennefer is a mess.

Cleo kitty vet visit

Sep 12: Cleo kitty is glad to be home from the vet, after taking her there, to troubleshoot appetite and other issues. She’s checking every corner of the house, to make sure nothing’s changed in the last two hours. 

We were hoping it was just a bad reaction to being stung by a wasp that got into her food bowl a few weeks ago, but no, it’s probably a lot worse than that. They think they saw a mass in her stomach on today’s X-Ray, but aren’t sure if it’s cancer. 

Tomorrow’s unscheduled activity will be a trip to an animal ER that can perform an ultrasound, to get a better sense of what’s in there. Jennefer’s having a really difficult time right now…

Remembering

We’re doing something a little different this New Year’s Day - we’re burning a candle today, in remembrance of everyone we’ve lost over the years.

 

And speaking of remembrances, Mandy was such a big part of our lives, for being such a little dog, that the impact of her leaving is tremendous. Everywhere we look, we have a comfy little bed or other special place for her, so she could position herself to be able to watch our every move. It’s so painful, each time I pick up a bed and put it on the pile of stuff to go out... so here I go, itemizing them all, and maybe that will help me process, and then let go of, some of my more difficult emotions right now. Feel free to skip, or scroll down to read the individual photo captions, as you like…

 

Mandy’s (and now Cleo’s) water dish in the bedroom, and also, her first bed, a folding wire-frame dog kennel, which we only used once the first night to confine her, and then immediately let her out, and brought her up onto the trunk at the foot of our bed. The next night, she weaseled her way onto the foot of the bed, and then finally she was rewarded with a spot on the bed between us. The kennel, with its fluffy pillow, became one of her favorite and most comfortable places to hang out in the bedroom, for many years. We got her so many dog toys, which you can see on top of the kennel, but she rarely played with any of them, but we still kept them for all these years. She has an even larger collection of even smaller dog toys, under the table in the great room by the sofa. She rarely touched them, either. 

 

Mandy’s special blanket on our bed. After our first few days with her, and we realized she was going to end up on the bed with us, we always kept a small blanket on top of the bed for her. For years, I would just flip the blanket over her, after she got comfortable, which was only after I had settled down. Lately she had a much harder time getting settling in, which was one of many small and large clues that she was nearing the end.

 

Mandy’s bed and blanket in the back of my car, which was brand-new two weeks before we got her. She spent so many hours snoozing comfortably back there, as we were driving cross country, or just on the mornings while she was waiting for me to get out of breakfast, so we could go for our late morning walks…

 

Mandy’s bed in Jennefer’s closet. This was one of the earliest beds that we set up for her, in locations throughout the house, and it was the place she would patiently wait for me to get home from work, after our caregiver/housekeeper/dog-sitter left. When I started bike riding, she would wait in here for me to return.

 

Mandy had a bed behind the sofa, so she could hang out and watch us prepare our and her meals. Then there were two beds here for the past few years, as Cleo at some point started commandeering Mandy’s bed, which left Mandy standing on the hard wood floor, gazing at us morosely. Now this one bed is just for Cleo, if she wants it.

Mandy’s bed in my basement office, by my (now-vintage) desktop computer, which I’ve started using again for some activities, as the larger screen works much better for me at times. She followed me down, in spite of the blockade I’d put at the top of the basement stairs, and would snooze comfortably for hours, as I finished up my various e-chores here.

 

Mandy’s bed in the Study, near my (relatively new) laptop computer, which I was "forced" into getting, because the old computer could no longer keep up with my favorite activity, flight simulation. She would snooze here at my feet for hours, as I would plan and fly my many trips using the X-Plane and Microsoft Flight Simulators. This became her favorite place, especially recently, and she would often detour into here, when she was roving the house looking for where I must’ve gone, and I'd eventually find her here, waiting for me…

 

Mandy’s collapsible traveling dog house, usually in the corner of the great room, but currently in the Study, to make room for Christmas decorations. This became yet another regular place for her to hang out and supervise us. Cleo quickly decided that it’s also a fine place for her to get some rest in relative privacy, while keeping an eye on us.

Mandy’s airline carrier, by the fireplace hearth near the TV. She traveled quite a few miles with us by air, but when we got home, this became yet another place for her to hang out and supervise us, as we were watching TV, when she wasn’t cuddled up with us on the sofa. Now Cleo has decided she likes to hang out here, and has taken over the supervisory duties. Oops, I just realized, there is a bunch of Mandy traveling paperwork and other supplies stashed in the big pocket on the other end of the carrier - so I have yet another task of unpacking and dispositioning all those items. 

 

Mandy’s bed by the table in the breakfast nook. In her never-ending quest to keep an eye on us, she would settle down in this bed, any time we were sitting at the breakfast table. I found myself looking there several times today, as we were getting ready to go out for an errand, as lately I've picking her up from there, to carry her to the car, for our drive to pick up breakfast. She didn't need to be carried all the way, but it was expedient sometimes, to skip the extra time she took to get out of bed, stretch, stretch again, and again, wander behind us to the door, sniffing a few things along the way, and then for us worry about whether or not she would make it down the garage stairs without a misstep, and then pick her up and put her in her bed, in the back seat of the car. 

This is the pile of beds and blankets waiting to go somewhere. You can see that we've already made a little progress on removing some of these items that also have strong emotional ties, from the places where Cleo doesn't seem to want to use them.