Sweet kitty

Alex, the almost-not-kitten-anymore, is being real sweet this morning.

On my days off, or mornings off as this one is, the critters all insist on being fed at their usual time -- around 6 am (if not before). So I get up, let Buster out, get his food, then get the cats' food, and go back to bed to snooze for a couple hours.

This morning, after I went back to bed, Alex started wandering around the house meowing. This went on for about 10 minutes or so, and I wondered if maybe she "lost" me since I wasn't following the usual weekday routine. So I called her, and she came into the bedroom and jumped on the bed, staying just long enough for a little head scratch. But she quit wandering around and meowing.

After I fell back asleep, I had a dream where I was visiting someone in a strange town with all the pets. Alex got out of the house. I followed her into the back yard, but she was already out of sight. I started calling her. There were plenty of cats around, but not her. I started to panic and ... woke up with a start. And there was Alex, in the perch by my bedroom window looking out over my back yard.

I don't know if she sensed the dream had upset me, but then she jumped up on the bed and lay down on my stomach, purring as I petted her and scritched her head. She doesn't do that very often any more, so it was a nice way to start the day.

Comfort

Only about nine months ago, this cat scared me in my garage one morning, and it was several days before she would let me near enough to pet her:

Doesn't look so feral now, does she?

And, of course, there's Buster.

He's a rescue, too. From some of his behavior, I suspect he was not treated well early in life. 

It's quite a good feeling to have an animal fall asleep in your presence when once upon a time they had no reason to trust people.

Scaling new heights

Last week, I was surprised to see the black & white kitten, who I've started calling Rascal since he's usually the first to get into things or places, had gotten himself up on the top shelf of the walk in closet. Mustache kitten followed within a day or so.

It wasn't until today, though, that I saw how they got up there.

All but the yellow kitten have napped on top of the wardrobe thing hanging on the rod to the right of the first picture. They would merely climb to the top and make themselves comfortable.

Rascal, bold one that he is, took that a step further. He climbs to the top of the hanging wardrobe, then, like a rock climber below a ledge jutting out of the mountain, grabs onto the cushion stored above, swings out and pulls himself up. It was kind of remarkable, really.

To get down, Rascal just jumps from the top shelf to the top of the kennel with a big THUD — not nice in the middle of the night. I might just have to start closing the closet door when I go to bed.

Mustache kitten, on the other hand, gets down by doing the reverse of getting up — getting a hold on the cushion, swinging her legs til she gets footing on the wardrobe and then climbing down. More like sliding down the time I saw her do it, though.

I let them outside this morning — or rather, they let themselves outside this morning. I guess I didn't close the bedroom door securely after I fed them, because when I got back from a walk up the street with Buster, all the kittens and Keaton were cavorting around the tree in the back yard.

It was a nice morning, so I thought what the heck and let them stay out for probably a couple of hours. Keaton kept an eye on them, and Buster "helped." He kind of got tired of herding kittens after awhile though, and would just go lie down in the yard close enough to watch but not be part of the playtime.

The surprising thing about the morning is how unmellow the yellow kitten was. He loved being outside, and when I decided to put them back in the bedroom so I could take a nap, he slipped out of the room four times and got back outside two or three of those times. He kind of yowled the first time I put him inside, too. 

As for me, I'm doing a little better. Our walk this morning was two and a half blocks out and back, and this afternoon I got tired of lying around, so I made some lemonade concentrate and simple syrup for my tea. It kind of wore me out, but that's something, I guess. I keep having to remind myself it will take time to get back to feeling like my old self again.

More kittens!

The kittens are now 8 weeks old, pretty close to being able to go to new homes. They probably could, since they are eating solid food more, although they are still nursing. I'd like to hang on to them a bit longer, though. 

Anyway, here's some pics, since I've been a bit remiss in posting them here.

Finding new places to nap ...

Checking out Buster's bed.

The only acceptable fur to wear.

Fruit ninja!

Having a bad day? Watch these

You're welcome.

Bad dog

Sorry about the darkness at the beginning.

Buster the cattle dog

Why he's my pet, and not a working dog:

Plan for the day

Since I'm carless, I guess I'll stick with the cleaning plan for today. I'll finish up the kitchen/dining area (which turned into kind of an impromptu home improvement project. I now have a nicer workspace for my computer. More on that later). Of course, I woke up this morning to find SOMEONE had tracked muddy pawprints from the back door all the way into the living room. Wonder who that could be, Buster?

I decided not to move my dining table back into the dining area. It's just not that big a space and the table was just becoming a collection site for junk anyway. Having a work space is more important to me, really. So now Buster has plenty of room to get his food and water dishes without having to maneuver around my chair if I'm working on the computer. And I moved my little beverage fridge in there from the utility room, where it will be handier to get to.

So I'l finish up cleaning in here, maybe get the countertops all nice and clean, too, and then start on the utility room. Mainly that's just going to be getting the junk off the top of the dryer to wherever it should go, but I should probably give the dryer a good cleaning too, get all the lint out of it.

Once that's done, I'll get started on the other bedroom, so my brother will have a nice, clean room to stay in while he's here next week. Maybe a little weeding in the yard if it's not too hot, and that should about cover my day.

Well, hello there

Yes, it's been awhile.

Today's has been kind of a crappy day. I woke up around 7 a.m. with a headache. Took some painkiller and put some food in Buster's dish, went back to bed and finally got up around 10 a.m. Poor Buster is so patient. I think maybe he's learning to tell when I don't feel good and wasn't too pushy about trying to get me to get out of bed.

My headache hadn't gone away though, so I just kind of moped around for the day, read the paper, watched some TV, took a nap. Finally around 1:30 I got up to take Buster for a walk. It's kind of sunny and warm, but windy again (probably what brought on the headache), but getting out did make me feel somewhat better.

When we got back I took a look at my lawnmower. I couldn't remember if I'd winterized it last fall, and guess what. I didn't. So it needs a little work. I'm off all day tomorrow, so I might see what I can do with it, and if I can't, give the service guys a call.

I did put a couple new plants in the ground. I got them about a week ago on a trip to Home Depot. Yes, it was all impulse. I got a mexican fern and an azalea. I was thinking of putting the azalea out front, but I think it might get too much sun there, so I put both of them under the tree out back. I think the fern will look good with the hosta (which look like they're going to BIG this year). It's supposed to be a perennial, so that'd be nice. The azalea will have red flowers and is supposed to bloom around mid-May. It's also kind of an evergreen.

I should be cleaning up the kitchen, but I do have to get ready before too long to go in to work at the mall. I wasn't scheduled for today, but when they made up the schedule, they forgot about the local public TV station's art auction fundraiser that they televise from one of the empty storefronts after displaying some of the stuff for auction for a couple weeks. It goes on until 10, and there's usually only one person working Sundays, and that would be an awful long day, so I said I'd go in at 6 and stick around until they're done, which should be about 10:30 or so. The mall will be closed, so I don't really have to do anything. Maybe I'll go finish my grocery shopping. Plus, I got to trade tonight for Tuesday night, so now I don't go in again until Thursday.

Rain, rain, go away

We've had more than four inches of rain since Saturday. For this area, that's a lot. I mean a LOT. I came home to discover the roof had been leaking in the kitchen. Not too much, but it was still a mess to clean up. It's been dripping off and on all evening.

Poor Buster didn't get his walk today, and he probably didn't go out much during the day since it just POURED much of the day. We roughhoused on the floor for awhile, and played with his favorite squeaky toy, a turkey. It's actually the only toy of his I can find anymore. He's sort of buried it in the back yard a few times over the last couple weeks, and I have no idea where his other squeaky toy, a shoe, is. Probably in the same place where his Kong is. We haven't seen that since shortly after he got it at Christmas.

Buster's not a snuggly dog like Nipper was, but he has his times when he wants to be close. I'm learning to "read" when he wants that. He'll kind of bug me if I'm lying on my couch, but he's not interested in playing. So when I scoot over and pat the couch, he'll hop up next to me and curl up for a nap. He doesn't put his head on my lap or anything, but once he's up there, he relaxes. He still sleeps out in the living room when it's time to go to bed, though.

Other than the rain, there's not a heck of a lot going on. So here's hoping we dry out the rest of the week.

Busterversary

Today marked one year since Buster came home. We had a pretty good day. In the morning I finished up some yardwork that I started last night but had to quit since it's getting dark earlier. I wanted to get that out of the way, because a friend of mine -- the one whose wedding I went to a couple weeks ago -- was in town and came over for awhile, and plus I wanted the afternoon to do something special with Buster.

So Karen and I had a good time visiting and catching up, and Buster was a pretty good boy. He got a bit overexcited a few times and nipped at her -- playfully, but I still don't like when he does that. But overall he behaved. Then in the afternoon, I took Buster into town and we spent about an hour walking through the big park. I think he had fun, even though it was pretty cool and kind of rainy. He's sure tired out tonight, so we're just hanging out at home with the TV, some popcorn and brownies.

Some busy weekends are coming up, though. Next Saturday is the Day of Caring, a brunch and fashion show for breast cancer awareness. All the models are breast cancer survivors. And yes, this year I'll be modeling. I was a bit nervous because the store they picked for me is a western wear store, and I am NOT into the cowgirl thing. But I did find some cool stuff, and I hope to have some pix to post here afterwards.

The weekend after that is a copy editing conference in Wichita -- yes, back to Wichita. I've been there more in the last year than I have in my whole life. But I'm looking forward to it. It'll be nice to be around people who actually think copy editing is still important to newspapers.

Dogless

That's what I am until Sunday evening. I'm heading to Wichita tomorrow morning with a co-worker for a friend's wedding, and we're staying overnight Saturday, so Buster is staying in a "cabin" at his vet's for the weekend. I can go pick him up Sunday evening, so depending on what time we get back, Sunday will be a quiet day.

Tonight, I'll have something to distract me for awhile. I'm heading into town to see Vanessa Peters and one of her bandmates perform at the local brewpub. I've been bored with commercial radio, and got tired of hearing the same old stuff on my iPod, so I started searching for different music. I checked out the Web sites of the local venues one day, and found she was coming here, listened to stuff on her MySpace page, and kinda got hooked. And then I thought it might be fun to write about some of the music going on around here and pitched the idea to my boss. He was less than enthusiastic about it, but I went ahead and did an article on Peters anyway for our arts page this week. I'd like to do more, especially on the local acts. We'll see how it works out time-wise with all the other crap that gets heaped on me at work now. I'm kind of hoping to maybe branch out into some freelance writing with some of this, too.

On my way to the show, I need to drop off Hope, my support group's giant pink Serta sheep mascot, at the home of one of the members so she can ride on the Homecoming parade float tomorrow. I'm kind of sorry I'll be missing that, because it's always a great experience. I've done it twice now, and each time, got a little choked up when people stand and applaud us as we go by. All we did was survive. It was all the scientists, doctors, nurses and caretakers who made that possible. They're really the ones who deserve the applause. So if you're involved at all in cancer research, oncologoy or are helping a loved one through treatment, know that applause is really for YOU.

Catch up

So, where to begin? A lot has really been happening.

• Mom and I will be going to Wichita in July for "Antiques Roadshow"! She got tickets and we can each take two items. She's taking a painting she inherited and some jewelry, and I'm taking a sketchbook of an African safari and ... something else. More on this as it draws nearer.
• Buster doesn't seem to like to swim. I had to haul him out of the creek Sunday after he jumped in after some people going by in canoes. He chased them downstream a ways, into the trees on the neighbor's property. He found a good spot to dive in -- and I think he didn't expect it to be as deep as it was -- but then he couldn't find a spot to climb back up out of the creek. So I had to make my way through the trees to where he was and pull him out. It was hard not to laugh at him, even though he was obviously a bit scared of the predicament he'd gotten himself into. Still, he did go in the creek today (in the shallow part) after our walk.
• Piano music does something odd to Buster. Tonight, we had been watching "Antiques Roadshow" on the local PBS station, and afterwards, the station showed a calendar of local events, with some piano music playing underneath. Buster pricked up his ears and started trotting around the house, from the back door to the front door, to my bedroom window, like he was looking for someone. He calmed down after the music stopped.
• Buster was a big help getting through Sunday. It was on Mother's Day last year that Nipper died. I sat under the pecan tree in the backyard, where Nipper and I spent his last afternoon enjoying the warm day and the breeze, with the windsock Mom had put there blowing around us, it's streamers falling down around Nipper's face and back. On Friday evening, I was at that spot planting some flowers there, when a breeze picked up and blew the streamers around my shoulders. Without even thinking, I said, "I miss you, too, Nipper." It really felt like my ol' pup was sending me a hug. Sunday was much the same as it was that Sunday last year, and as I sat there, Buster came and sat beside me. The wind turned and blew the streamers toward Buster, and they settled on his head and shoulders. And that was almost like Nipper saying "He's a good dog, too. He'll watch over you." I'm sure some people will think I'm reading too much into nothing, but that's what it felt like. And I really think love can transcend boundaries -- even the love from a dog.
• I'm doing well health-wise, and so is my family. My support group is another situation, however. One member has had a reoccurance and will begin chemo next week, after having had a mastectomy and surgery to remove a kidney, where a tumor was found. Her prospects, are good, and she's in good spirits. However another member told us at our meeting last week that the doctors told her she has six months to a year to live. She has battling this for almost three years straight. It seemed like she was on good ground and then they found new tumors -- first in her lungs, which went away with chemo, and this latest bout with tumors in her brain. The chemo seemed to be effective a couple months ago, though, as she reported they were shrinking. And then this news. It's kind of hard to take, because she has been so active all throughout these last few years, even with the treatment. She has a teenage son she's raising herself, and she's done a lot for the deaf community, both locally and at the state level. It just ain't right.

Success!

We have a dog door! Dad and I got the door put in today. It's probably not as good a job as a pro would have done, but we got it done. One thing I found out: Don't assume your door is a solid-wood door just because it looks that way on the edge. Yep, my door is solid ... foam. Obviously, it made the job a lot easier than I thought it would be. And I definately couldn't have done it without Dad's help (BIG thanks, Dad!).

Now the task is getting Buster used to the idea he can go out whenever he wants. He was a bit scared of it at first, it seemed. He would only go through it if I held the flap out of the way (and some treats helped). But when I got home from the hotline tonight, he came out to greet me! He needed a bit of encouragement to come out through the door, but he did it without me holding the flap out of his way. I made him come in using the door, and he needed a bit more encouragement to do that. But he did, he got lots of loving and playing with his favorite squeaky toy! And as I've been sitting here at the computer, he keeps going to the door and sticking his head out, as if he's just checking what's going on in the yard. I'm sure he'll get the idea eventually. But life's going to be easier now, not having to run home on my long work days to let him out.

In other news

Spring is in sight. When I got home Tuesday, I took Buster out for a romp, and on the hill near the fence I spotted a few green sprigs of crocus leaves poking through the grass-clipping mulch. Ducks have been visiting my part of the creek the last few days. I've been seeing flocks of cranes heading north for about a week now, and of course the skunks are spreading their idea of perfume to attract a mate. Not to mention their carcasses on the highways, since they're too preoccupied to look both ways.

Today, it's supposed to be in the lower 70s, so I am going to attempt to put in a dog door so Buster can let himself out when I'm away at work. Actually, I guess there's no "attempt." Either I will put in a dog door or I'll need a new back door! Buster just will not go out when Dad comes over to let him out. I know he's somewhat fearful of men, but I would have thought he'd been around Dad enough to trust him when he opens the door and calls him to come out. But Dad says he always just hides in my bedroom. So yesterday, I closed both bedroom doors before I left for work. All Buster did was stand in the doorway, Dad said. He was really happy when I got home from the hotline at about 10:30! He went out about three times to do his business before we went to bed.

I'm pretty sure he'll catch on to the dog door quickly. A couple weeks ago, I used a big piece of cardboard with a dog-door sized hole to see how low I need to place the door that he can get in and out of OK. A few treats for enticement, and he was going through the cardboard with no problem. So maybe he's already got the idea in his head.

Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler and cloudy maybe with some rain. I hope the rain misses us. I have the whole day off and I'd love to get out and start cleaning up the gardens a bit.

Snow day

Well, a half day, at least. When I woke up this morning, there was already about 3 inches covering the ground. The snow wasn't as heavy in the town where I work, but it kept up all day (and blowing), and when I got home about 1:30 this afternoon, there was probably about 7 inches on the ground here. I had scooped a path on the back patio to the garage before I left for work, and when I got home, you couldn't tell I'd done that.

Before I got settled in and cozy inside, I scooped paths in back and up front, not that you can tell now, and decided to put out some more birdseed. The birds did not want to leave the feeders, though, and one little female finch wouldn't get off the thistle feeder until I nudged her a few times with my finger! I've gotten within a couple feet of the feeders before they fly off sometimes, but never have I ever been able to walk right up to the feeder, let alone touch a wild bird!

I tried my mom's chili recipe for the first time today (after she FINALLY she gave me the recipe). I browned the meat Sunday and tossed it and the other ingredients in the slowcooker this morning. It tasted just as good as when she makes it, I thought, but I'll take some to Dad tomorrow (after the snow dies down) and see if he thinks it's just as good as what he calls Mom's "damn good chili." I filled up on that and cornbread muffins this afternoon, and had popcorn for dinner. Hey, it's a snow day, I can indulge!

Looks like I need to get a dog door in pronto. Mom is off on her next adventure, so Buster has some long days by himself when I'm working the hotline on a weekday. I hate leaving him alone, but I thought I could wait until spring to put in a dog door (since you're supposed to take the door off its hinges to install one) and in the meantime, Dad could come over and let him out on those long days.

Buster's timid around strangers, especially men, but I thought he was used to Dad by now and would be OK. We tried it Sunday, when I worked an 8-hour shift on the hotline, but Dad said Buster would not go out for him. He greeted Dad at the door, but went right into my bedroom and wouldn't come out. So I guess Operation Dog Door gets moved up. It's supposed to warm up toward the weekend, so maybe I can get something done soon.

I fixed my shower door! One of the rollers had come out on one of the sliding doors last week, so I have just kind of avoided using it. Once I got a look at it today, though, and saw what needed to be done, it didn't take very long. It was simple, but I'm kind of proud of myself and feeling all handy. Not that I'm going to go put in a dog door right now or anything.

Overworked

The past week has not been a great one. I've been putting in a lot of hours at the second job, due mostly to the fact the boss hasn't gotten around to hiring a new hotline assistant. My friend Judy, who helped me get this job, gave her notice more than three weeks ago. Her last day was the 16th (except that she's working today, since I'm working at the paper today and there's no way I could have done both jobs on a Saturday), and the boss is just now putting an ad for the job in Sunday's paper. Until now, all she'd done was call some people who had applied for the job at the same time I did -- months ago -- and couldn't seem to understand why none of them called her back. Duh!

It didn't help that the other hotline assistant had a family emergency and couldn't work two of her days. So I've had six days on this week's pay period alone -- twice what I should have! Add to that I had to get the paper's annual bridal tab laid out this week, and put in extra hours Tuesday and had to deal with the stupid software we have corrupting my file more than once, and I've had a very stressful week. And it's not necessarily over, at least until another hotline assistant is hired and trained.

So I'm just kind of kicking back this morning until I have to go in the paper to work. I slept in, and Buster and I went and filled the birdfeeders then played around the yard for awhile. Then we worked on some agility training, and Buster's doing quite well with that! For Christmas, my brother got me this agility kit. We haven't gotten to use it too much because of all the snow and cold and me working, but we got the chance to do it a couple times this week. I'm having fun. Buster has fun, once he figures out what I want him to do, and that the things aren't anything to be afraid of! So far, he's learned to do the high jump (actually the not-so-high-jump), and today, I got him to go through the tunnel a few times. He even did both in succession ... sort of. I can't wait for him to learn the weave poles, but the instruction book says that's usually the hardest part to train for, so I'll probably leave that for last, when the weather might be a bit warmer and we can get out more frequently.

There's no dog agility clubs or competitions where I live (not outside of 4-H, and I'm a bit old for that) at least that I know of, but maybe I'll post something somewhere and see if there's some interest. Even if there's not, it's been fun to do, so great gift, bro!

Back to work

Well, I'm back at work after being on vacation and Buster seems to be adjusting OK. We had about six days of my vacation time together, so he kind of got used to me sleeping in. Mom usually gets up earlier than I do when I'm on my days off, and after she'd get up, he'd try to get me up, too, and then get all excited when I did.

Thursday, though, when I got up early after my alarm went off, he was just escatic that I was up early! He ran into the kitchen when I went to fix breakfast, and ran back to my room with me and ran little circles as I went about getting ready for work. And then he stood at the door and looked confused when I went out to the car to leave. I was amazed at the difference in his behavior from one morning to the next. Friday, when my alarm went off and I got up, he actually seemed like he was moping! Like he had figured out that when the alarm goes off, it means I'm going to be leaving him. Now it's the weekend, of course, and I could sleep in, so it'll be interesting to see what happens when I get up Monday morning.

Today, when I was getting ready to take him for a walk, he seemed a little excited about it. That's the first time, so maybe he's starting to associated the word "walk" with going outside. And he does like to spend a lot of time outside, so I'm thinking maybe a doghouse would be a good idea. I'll probably still get a dog door, but if he likes spending so much time outside, it'd be a good idea to have something for him out there.

Bandana dog

He just looks like he needs one.


And if that's not enough for you, here's Buster in his first video:

Buster

Buster is adjusting pretty well to his new home. And we're adjusting to having a dog in the house again. It's a good adjustment, though.

He's so much the opposite of Nipper, though. Nipper was definatley an alpha dog. Nipper would listen to you if he wanted. He took up most of the bed, or couch or whatever he wanted to lay on. He decided when it was time to play, and when he wanted his walk, you'd better be ready! Part of that is my own fault. I didn't understand the particulars of canine communication, and so probably encouraged a lot of his alpha behavior. We eventually came to an understanding, and I think in some way he saw me as an equal. Which is better than being thought of as below him in the pecking order.

Buster, though, is not an alpha. He comes almost every time I call him, and he'll even come to a sit when he gets to me. I can roll him on his back with no problem. When I say no, he stops what he's doing. Usually. He does tend to bump my hand to be petted or use his teeth when giving me kisses or playing. He's a young guy, still, really, so a lot of that is puppy behavior, but he still needs to learn to stop doing it.

We're getting the sleeping arrangements worked out. After he rolled off the side of the bed last night, he curled up near my feet and seemed a lot more restful there, rather than on "his side" of the bed, like Nipper preferred. Buster doesn't use a pillow, either.

Buster is also a lot more attentive to sounds. He reacts to noise from the TV, especially kids and other high-pitched sounds but also dogs and loud noises. He notices just about every vehicle that passes by, but he doesn't startle at vehicles going over the nearby wooden bridge like he did the first day or so.

While I was at work today, Mom discovered he likes chasing a ball. I tried tossing one ball for him that first day, a hard rubber one that has a little jingle bell inside, but he never showed interest. Mom tried another ball that didn't make sound, and said he had fun chasing that one. So tonight, when he obviously needed to burn off some energy, I took him out for a bit and we had fun with the ball. Although I realized after a bit what it might sound like to the neighbors when I'm shouting "Get the ball Buster!" Oh well.