I had a much better day today. I think I only cried a couple of times, and no outright sobbing (I ask you, is this progress or what?)  Had a nice talk with my husband when he got home. I think a new cat is in our not-so-distant future, not because we have any idea of replacing the one we lost, but we have loads of love to give, a safe, warm home with very little stress, and we'd be honored to share it with another kitty. Plus I need to laugh again, real soon, and I always laugh with and about my cats. We got two very sweet sympathy cards in the mail today, one of them was from my cat's vet, and the note she included was so nice, I did shed a few tears over it. People are great at times like this.

Can you give a rescue cat a home AG? Maybe a black one, as I gather they are difficult to find new homes for in the US. I would love, just love t have a cat again but my old man doesn't like them (and t be fair our dogs might eat a kitten!) I have promised myself that, one day,  shall have a wee cat again.

Davina wrote:

Can you give a rescue cat a home AG? Maybe a black one, as I gather they are difficult to find new homes for in the US. I would love, just love t have a cat again but my old man doesn't like them (and t be fair our dogs might eat a kitten!) I have promised myself that, one day, shall have a wee cat again.

Yes, we plan to go to our local humane shelter and pick out our new friend probably in 2 or 3 weeks. First we need time to heal and grieve, and then my husband is scheduled to retire from work on Dec. 17, so he'll be home full time after that. With Christmas and everything, the plan at the moment is to start looking the week before the holiday or the week after. I'm actually getting excited about the prospect!

Your husband doesn't like cats because he's never met a good one. The good ones are fabulous little beasts and can win over the hardest hearts. The chore is to FIND a good one, lol! I am very fortunate that my husband is a cat person just like me.

 

Davina wrote:

My little cat was lovely. She used to let my daughter dress her up and put her in a pram but he just never liked her. He got toxoplasmosis when he had to clean the litter tray (reluctantly) when I was pregnant and said that was why, but actually he never liked her much before that. She was a real lap cat too. Her name was OXO (which represented her two eyes and her little nose). He's a dog kinda guy but also had issues about having our male springer spaniel being castrated. Men can be very weird sometimes. I got a little terrier girl. He didn't used to like small, yappy dogs! Mwahahah!

We had cats we used to dress up and put in doll carriages when my older sisters were kids-- I've seen pictures, but I don't actually remember that. Those were the days, my friend.

Do you pronounce OXO as OX-OH?  Or do you just spell it out? We had a neighbor once whose little bengal female cat was named Yertha, as in "you're the" one that I love.  Too cute. And my recently deceased cat was actually named Mazda Miata, given that name in the shelter she came from 16 years ago by a teenaged volunteer who said she was "just a shiny little black sports car of a kitten."  She was, and the name stuck.

Fortunately, companion pets come in all shapes and sizes and several species, so whatever floats someone's boat (baby alligator anyone?), they can probably find one to come live at home with them.
 

Davina wrote:

Oxo is pronounced OX-OH. It's a brand of gravy granules and also comes in a small cube with silver foil wrapping (a bit like Knorr).

A friend's daughter keeps snakes and such like. My friend cannot stand them but her daughter has her own apartment with a whole room set up for them and their vivariums.

Another friend's son is like animal boy and keeps loads of different poultry. He breeds them and they always seem to have some chicks, ducklings or turkey chicks or eggs at some stage in their house. When the quail chicks escaped in her lounge she was not very happy.

I would have called OXO My Cute Little Gravy Granule of a Kittens....  because I talk stupid to cats, but they don't seem to mind, lol.

Yeah, snakes, you can keep 'em. Ugh. It really does take all kinds, though, doesn't it.

My oldest son and his wife have 6 chickens in a huge coop in their backyard, but no rooster, so no little chicks, just eggs in the better weather. Poor things suffer this time of year with the cold, the boredom of not getting out in the yard much, and the ever-constant winter molting, which I guess is uncomfortable for them.  They have an enclosure with light bulbs for warmth and a big perch to get up off the ground and roost together to keep warm out in the cold, and I know they just have bird brains, but I feel for the poor things. No way would I want to be out in that yard in the dark, cold winter in New England. Brrrrrr.
 

besleybean wrote:

Don't they have a shed?

A coop, yes. As I said, they have a pretty big outdoor enclosure that's attached to a smaller little house that shields them from the wind, where they have their roosting boxes, a big perch up off the ground, and a couple of lightbulbs for warmth, but brrrrr, it's still gotta be wicked cold out there in the winter. They get lots of food and fresh water with a heater in it to keep it from turning to ice, and they get checked on twice a day, so as chickens go, they're pretty well off. I just get going with my anthropomorphic musings, and I'd be better off not going there, lol.
 

This Is The Phantom Lady wrote:

I baked Christmas cookies in my mums kitchen today... For the first time that was a truly pleasant experience! Yay! I felt so much Christmas spirit! 

That sounds like fun. We watched Miracle on 34th Street, with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, from 1947 or so. A classic, always a feel-good story.

Tomorrow we're going to lunch with friends and then to a Christmas themed brass band concert. We go every year, and it's a wonderful time. They have the concert in a small New England white church (yes, with a steeple and everything!) that's decorated for Christmas inside with green wreaths, garlands and electric candles in the tall windows. Very cool.
 

I've retired from full-time crime work for the Crown (still taking the odd case from private clients) to focus on my blog and travel and my little cottage. A little scary (the money's much better in crime work), but I feel the way I did when I ended my medical career, tired of blood and suffering and death and ready to focus on life and my adventures. It's nervewracking, but I think I made the right decision.

(If one more person asks me if I'm taking up beekeeping -- I've received FOUR copies of Beekeeping For Dummies since I bought the cottage in 2012, I am going unleash a beehive full of murderous bees on them. At least, I get the joke now... )

Mary

I have a sudden burst of energy tonight... I don't know what happened really. 

I was half asleep on the train coming back from my weekend with my mother; culminating in a Family dinner... Something that just hearing about it would exhaust me. 

When I came home I changed my mind about going to bed and ended up cleaning the kitchen and made the dough for the gingerbread I am baking tomorrow... and just now I started working on a new novel. 

 

Lucky you.
3.20 on Tuesday, for me.