Undercover Cat

  

 Our little tabby girl has dragged the chair cover away from the arm and seat of the family room chair, along with the blue and white fleece blanket atop it that was meant to be her burrowing place.  After taking the photo, I pulled the edge back down so she could remain snuggled away from the light.

Something to show for it

Kit Charlemagne, March 9, 2:00 p.m.

First creeping speedwell of the year, March 8, 12:30 p.m. 

It's just been that kind of month

 

Afternoon napping

From left:  Nelson and Kit Charlemagne

Kit Charlemagne in the late afternoon sun

One of the finer things in life

Extra-special Quality Time today with Good Queen Swirly.

 

Sept. 24, 1995: Kelly Cat Adopts Us

Tonight's recap

Good Queen Swirly (9:44 a.m.)

But why?  (7:30 p.m.)

Two of the many seen along the way.  (7:35 p.m.)

Back in my own yard.  The Indian Blanket flower that began as a volunteer

 in late June 2020 is still thriving, more than five years later.  (7:47 p.m.)

Google Lens says, "The image displays a cluster of Verbena flowers, 

also known as Vervain."  (7:48 p.m.)

A long day

Swirly's been under the weather, up one day, down the next, and after the past weekend Pat and I wanted to take her right away this morning to our usual vet. Trouble was, they said they were completely booked for the day.

We went to one of the 24-hour vets they recommended, and within minutes of getting there, Swirly was checked over and triaged, and we all sat down to wait our turn. Then a person arrived whose dog was having seizures. Then a couple walked in with an old dog with difficulty breathing.

It took longer than anyone would have wanted, but staff members kept us informed throughout, so we never felt like saying "Remember us?" Eventually we and Swirly were taken back to an exam room, and after they took a closer look, they found one bladder stone stuck to her fur, and more still inside. Vital signs good, no damage to kidneys, but a UTI in progress.

She's staying overnight with an operation scheduled for tomorrow, and we should be able to pick her up before the end of the day. Jack and Jennie loaned us one of their dog enclosures on short notice, which will really help with our Good Queen's recovery. 

Brown on brown

Handsome Kit is keeping Pat company on the sofa this morning.

Down it goes

At 8:00 this morning, work began on roof replacement of our next-door neighbor's house.  Good Cat Nora has her eyes on the workers as they strip away the 25-year-old shingles and roofing paper.

Outside looking in

Good Queen Swirly makes the acquaintance of the visiting neighbor cat from a respectful distance.  The little moocher was here to eat breakfast early this morning, again for a mid-morning feeding, and showed up late this afternoon to ask for another meal.
 

Neighbor cat

This young lady cat has been visiting us when the weather cooperates.  I'd like to believe that her owners keep her indoors on rainy/snowy days.  But today was warm and mostly sunny, so this morning she stopped by to ask politely for a snack, which we provided.

Seen in the Kitten Suite

Quark

Rescued, but still fearful

One of the dozens of cats rescued from a hoarding situation and currently living at Tabby's Place.  A visitor lies on the floor near where they are hiding, seldom speaking, except for a few soft words which are meant to get them used to human company, and from there, perhaps they can be adopted.  

 

Temporary replacement cat bed

Some months ago, Pat bought a cat bed for Good Queen Swirly. After adding our scent to it, we placed it behind a chair in the family room, and she took to it immediately.

But recently, another cat marked the bed and the floor beneath it, and Swirly won't go back there anymore. We washed the bed and floor and used Nature's Miracle, to no avail.

I laid a fleece blanket on top of the table next to my recliner, and after a day or two she began using that as a replacement. That'll work for now.

We can always get another cat bed for Swirly, but she won't even go behind the chair despite our treatment. We're kind of stuck for an answer.

Friday night

A thought while scrolling:  "That's all well and good.  But I know good and well that..."

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Seen any good stuff lately?  Yes, the Mike Wallace Interview, a half-hour of picture radio from the late 1950's, conversation with the up-and-coming (Henry Kissinger), those past their prime (Mary Margaret McBride, Dagmar, Gloria Swanson, Philip Wylie) and those still riding their 15 minutes of fame (Ralph Lapp) or infamy (Eldon Edwards, Grand Wizard of the KKK).  A few people at the top of their business (Steve Allen, Eddie Arcaro), and some near the end (Commando Kelly, Diana Barrymore).

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As a child growing up a couple of decades after World War II, I learned about the war years through history, not as an eyewitness.  The Manhattan Project had been top secret, I read, except for a few pesky leaks to the Soviet Union, I read later.  When Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuked, it was a huge surprise to everyone outside that small cadre of nuclear physicists.  No one had ever heard of such a thing.

And so it wasn't until tonight, following up on the Mike Wallace Interview with Philip Wylie, that I learned that the atomic bomb had been the subject of numerous articles in the 1930's in newspapers, in magazines like Popular Mechanics and Mechanix Illustrated, and short stories in pulp science fiction magazines.  People knew about the sudden cities in Oak Ridge and in Los Alamos.

Actually, the pulp stories continued into the early years of the war (so I found out) until a government agency said in effect, "Ix-nay on the Omb-Bay.  The enemy can read, too."  Philip Wylie had written a story that brought together a great deal of knowledge about the progress being made on nuclear weaponry, and he was taken to a quiet room by several serious men who wanted to know how he knew so much and why he was telling so much about it.

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I was in the basement last night, and I looked across the floor and saw my little cat, Good Queen Swirly.  She saw me and ran to me for some affection, and I was happy that seeing me made her so happy.

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Symphony's determined kitten

A cat foster parent provided this footage of a mother cat and her kittens at feeding time.  The video was cute all by itself, and then I touched it up a bit, using Handbrake to convert it from .MOV to .MP4, adding a little background music from Free Music Archive, and learning how to use Mixcraft Acoustica 9 to tighten up the shot.  

Four Things

1.  At Tabby's Place, a woman I didn't know approached me and told me she had adopted Sabrina, and she thanked me for the Throwback Thursday pictures of her cat that had been posted about a month ago.  

2.  Recently, I was in the $1.25 Tree store, and on the bookshelf I found Funny Girl, a novel by Nick Hornby.  I had a vague memory of him associated positively with Steely Dan, and that he'd written a couple of other critically-praised things I'd heard of, so I bought the book.  Last night, as I scanned the Sunday night Tivo listings, I found Funny Woman, a British show based on the book.  (Good idea changing the name.)  "There are no coincidences"?  Ha!

3.  Xitter has its lower-class neighborhoods, I'm told, but where I hang out is perfectly OK.  Still sharp and intelligent.  For instance:

There were several dozen responses that referenced Steely Dan, and every one of them was a reference to something in one of the first seven LP's,  Can't Buy a Thrill through Gaucho. Nothing from Two Against Nature (Grammy Album of the Year!) or Everything Must Go, and zilch from the solo releases. 

My response was slow, and a quote tweet instead of a direct reply, but it works while still fitting in with the crowd.  My excuse is that I had to narrow things down, discarding 11 Tracks of Whack and Circus Money, where others already had a limited list of sources.    

4.  I had a podcast on while driving home yesterday afternoon, the OMG (Osnos, Mayer, Glasser) Political Scene from The New Yorker.  Shortly after crossing the PA border, it ended and unexpectedly, another podcast began, this one devoted to drumming history.  This one, a look back at Neil Peart's gear.  This one, designated as Part II, and just for the years 1982-1994.  This one, nearly two hours long; 1:47.31 to be exact.  (My eyebrows raising higher and higher as I realized all this.)

My good girl Lorna Doone

Lorna Doone

Yesterday afternoon at Tabby's Place.  Not shown:  the hand protectors I was wearing to prevent another attack like the one she inflicted on me last September.

If inspiration struck, I could write lyrics about Lorna Doone the cat, to the tune of Donald Fagen's "On the Dunes".