Hanging In, with the Sidecat

I'm still here. I'm still a bit grumpy. I'm waiting for the patches to kick in those hormones that the gel seems not to have been doing (I had a damned hot flash on Saturday, didn't miss those at all). The elevator still isn't fixed.

But! In these difficult times, there is always: CAT, in a dozen ways.

1. Still loves his box from Walmart.

2. Also likes to sleep under a chair on the lanai, because that looks comfortable.

3. Hanging out where I put down a bowl of chicken (for ME) for 30 seconds, five minutes earlier.

4. Back in the box, but wait! New development!

5. Tail hanging out the back like a rudder!

6. Chin scritches.

7. Last Friday, he discovered the foot space under my desk and declared it cat space.

8. He went into the corner to wash his face after eating.

9. Chin rest.

10. Hanging out.

11. Back in that corner.

12. Back under the desk.

Box Love Continues

Oh, y'all. This cat loves this box with such a passion that I feel guilty for not having given it to him sooner.

To answer some questions:

• I think I got it at Walmart; I'm going to look next time I'm in one and see if they still carry it.
• It came with three scratcher pads in it, so it could start off as more of a scratcher experience and less of a box, if you see what I mean, or you could take out the extra ones to start off with the box-ness.
• I do turn over and eventually replace scratcher pads when they shed enough cardboard bits that they bug me. :)
• I don't have a rotation for cat toys/scratchers/boxes etc., but Newman seems to have his own. He goes through phases where he is all over a thing and then has zero interest in it for weeks. He is a character.

And so cute! And so happy in his box.

Someone on facebook called the paw sticking out his rudder, and it makes sense to me. How else would you steer?

Box Day

No, not Boxing Day: box day. As in, Newman has a new box. 

He has these scratchers, which he sometimes naps on.

But today I pulled out a similar one I had forgotten about, and he's a fan.

He likes it!

What's Up, in a Few Photos

My mother's car had to go in to the shop today (which unfortunately means doing the stairs twice in a day, ugh). It also happened to coincide with the annual tree trimming, and I'm guessing the crew figured no one was in the building, because they had to move both the truck and some large branches so that I could get out.

Yes, we are in tree-trimming season around here, starting last week. Each property in our area takes between one and two days, and given that I'm talking about our property, the one to the right, the one to the left, the two behind us, and the two nearest across the street, it tends to be a couple of weeks of chain saws and wood chippers. Oh joy. Where's the headache medicine?

In (happier) knitting news, I mentioned a while back that I was starting another Valente shawl, but I'm not sure when I last provided proof. I'm more than half done, and last night I decided to lay out the new one with the first one on top of it, for a size comparison (because the second one is slightly thicker yarn, sport instead of fingering)(for both versions, I cast on more stitches than the pattern called for, 107 instead of 92, to make it slightly larger).

I wanted it to be a bit bigger, and it is! I'm happy with it.

Finally, I don't think I'm allowed to post photos without including the prince, who recently has taken to sleeping under the chairs on the lanai. Because the only thing more comfortable than tile is resting your head on metal.

Cats are such weirdos.

Pets That I Met ("Boston" trip, part 1/?)

First note: I'm calling this the Boston trip because...that's what I call visiting the area. The only time I actually spent in the city of Boston was at the airport, or going to/from the airport. I spent all the time in various suburbs and into western Mass, but yeah, Boston it is.

Second note: This trip recap is in no particular order. I just wanted to be clear that there is no plan!

Note for part 1 specifically: The pets in question were mostly cats, just one dog. I think of cats and dogs the way I think of speaking French and Spanish. I studied French, and while I'm not a fluent speaker at all*, it is familiar to me in a way that Spanish, for all its similarities, is not. I "speak" French, not Spanish. Similarly, I "speak" cat, not dog. I know that my friends who are dog lovers feel about them the way I do about cats, but it isn't that way for me.

*One of my great language achievements was telling a Paris cab driver where I wanted to go and having him understand me. I also apologized for not having closer to correct change, and he understood me. This happened when I was a college student, so it's a long time ago, but I still flush with pride to think of it.

On to the pets! First house, two cats, one fluffy (ragdoll) and the other not so much.

Floof:

There were birthday balloons in the house (not for the cat's birthday), and she liked to walk with them.

Second, not-so-floof:

After stretching out in the sun, she did an army-crawl move forward.

Floof loaf.

Tabby stripes.

Classic box.

Second house, dog. The only photo I got was of her making friends. We got cozy.

Third house, two cats, both floofy. The counter inspector:

And the floor friend.

And that was it! I was definitely feeling cat-deprived by the time I got home. Newman gifted me with zoomies shortly after greeting me when I walked in.

Then he gave me these poses.

AKA "go ahead, caller, I'm listening."

Such a good boy.