I've Been Traveling and I'm Pooped

Decided to drive to Birmingham last Wednesday to do what I could about selling Mom's place, plus I wanted to visit my Dad With The Broken Neck (he's doing great--a positive attitude will work wonders). Took Boo to the vet and left lots of food and water for Poonie with instructions to try not to vomit all over the place. When faced with unlimited amounts of food, Poonie eats too much too fast and, well, I just had to keep my fingers crossed (Poonie's been in the office with me all morning, talking, rubbing his head on my legs--now he's managed to get the closet doors open enough and he's sitting in the closet looking at me. Anyone who knows Poonie and how mean he's been all his life just can't believe this transformation--he's especially sweet after I've left him alone for a few days. Hey, it works for our marriage, why not with a cat?).

I need to finish my plantation posting but I have to tell you, I found the weirdest, coolest structure EVER right in the middle of Prattville, Alabama--plus Prattville itself, while having an "ugly" name, has an awesome historic downtown. It took way longer to get home than it normally would (8 hours as opposed to 5) but it was worth it.

It took me all day Sunday, though, to recover!

Edgar

Meet Edgar, The Cat Who Loved Only Me. This is a pretty big deal for me since most of my so-called animal friends usually preferred someone else over yours truly. I first met Edgar when Mike & I went to visit our friends Robert & Ellen. Ellen had Edgar since he was a kitten, but when Robert moved in, for some reason he couldn't stand Edgar. Maybe the fact that Edgar saw no problem with jumping on the table during dinner bothered Robert, who also didn't like sharing his bed with the cat. I LOVED Edgar and told them that if they ever had to get rid of him, I'd take him. This caused some raised eyebrows over on Mike's side, but since our current cat, Miss Kitty, owned him lock, stock and barrel, I guess he figured I needed a cat to call my own. When Robert & Ellen moved away, Edgar moved in with us. From that moment on, I had me a PET! The only time Edgar would have anything to do with Mike was (1) when he needed to walk over Mike to get to me, or (2) when I was gone overnight and Edgar figured he'd starve if he didn't pay a bit of attention to the only human in the house. Other than that, Edgar sat on my lap, slept right by my side, and eventually traveled with me, sleeping on my lap as I drove.

This is Edgar's favorite spot during what passes for winter in the South. The pilot light on the stove emits just enough heat to warm a kitty cat on a cold day, and more than enough heat to make the kitchen HORRIBLY hot the rest of the year. I love my stove--it's just about old enough to be retro. The incredibly tacky metal backsplash was there when we moved in 15 years ago and we might get around to replacing it eventually (after we've completed the other 10,000 things on "The List").

Edgar died when he was about 12, so we got several good years out of each other. I buried him in a pretty patch in our woods and surrounded the spot with statues of a cat, a bird, and St. Francis. There was an opening in the azalea bushes in front of the woods, which became the entrance to Edgar's Spot--I put two light sensitive lanterns there and their soft glow was lovely at night. Now the azalea bushes have grown over the entrance and when the wasps took over the lanterns we got rid of them, but I'll always have a special place in my heart for my darling Edgar, The Cat Who Loved Only Me.

Boo! It's Boo!

Boo Baby (March 2005)

A Bit Older Boo (Spring 2005)

Headlights

Hangin' out in the kitchen sink

Doggie Fashionista

Having a Chihuahua, albeit a great big one (11 pounds) means you've been given a license to dress the dog. I think Holly is somewhat embarrassed by the costumes but she's such a mellow doggie that she goes along with being occasionally clothed. We've taken her to Barkus, the Mardi Gras parade for dogs, for several years (see photo of Flying Monkey, handmade by yours truly--I can't sew so the vest, wings and hat were all glued and velcroed together). She got her picture in the Times Picayune one year due to the fabulous and feathery green wings we put together using a coat hanger, feather boa and dog harness. She sort of disappeared into the outfit but it was stunning nevertheless. Her latest fashion statement is from DogBar in Miami Beach and it's a stunner. A t-shirt with an incredible rendition of Ganesh (minus the elephant head, replaced by a dog head). Not sure if this is sacreligious or not (Pavit?) but with the number of Ganesh statues and pictures in my house I couldn't resist. Once this frigging hot and humid weather realizes it's FALL and cools off, she'll be able to wear her finery. Until then, she's au natural, as God made her.