The kids wanted a puppy. Very, very much. I didn’t, I don’t. Puppies don’t come house trained, I’m not willing to clean after them. We have a cat, Syria; her brother Jordan died a year ago. The kids, accepting that there would be no puppy, wanted a kitty. I figured, why not? Syria is such a good cat that she’d get used to him, and a kitty shouldn’t be much more work than a cat (they come house trained :-). I’d forgotten how active kitty cats are, how much they like to scratch and so forth, but our house is pretty much in shambles, so there isn’t much left to destroy.
Yesterday they had an adoption event at the Hayward pound. There were lots of kitties to chose from, many of them very cute, I don’t really know why Mika chose “Indi”, not the one I’d have chosen but it’s not for me 🙂 He’s cute, in the way all kitties are cute, but not specially so. In the end, that’s probably a good thing if that means that but for us, he’d have had more of a difficulty getting adopted.
He’s supposed to be only two months old, but I don’t buy it. He’s quite long, though pretty skinny. I’m sure that will change. He is a rescue kitty, I don’t know where he comes from. His “intake” date was August 5th and I got it yesterday. I don’t know if that meant that he’s only been with his foster family for 3 days. He was dewormed a month ago, and he had two siblings, so I assume he came from a family rather than from the street.
In any case, so far he’s proved to be a great kitty. When we got Syria and Jordan from the pound, they were very timid and afraid of us. They immediately went into the scratching tent we got from them and would not go out. I don’t remember how long it took them to get used to the house and us, but it definitely wasn’t immediate. This kitty, on the other hand, has been all over the house without any problems. He plays with the kids, lets them pick him up and hold him/pet him. Of course, when Camila has him he often wants to leave 🙂
Last night the kitty came to sleep with us (Mika and I) in our bed. He laid between us and purred and purred while we petted him. He closed his eyes and slumbered for a while. It’s great to see him so comfortable and happy.
Syria, of course, is less than happy to have him here. She’s growled at him but in no way tried to attack him. I think it’ll just take some time to have her be comfortable with him. I will definitely pay more attention to her, at least to the degree that she asks for it. As I told her, she is *my* cat.
The kitty really likes the cat tree, which is great because Syria hasn’t used it in a long time, and it’s not the most attractive piece of furniture to have in my living room – if it’s there, I want it to be used.
Mika had wanted to name whatever kitty we got Isis or Osiris – she’s been reading the Theodosia
Here are a couple of pictures of Indy – I’m sure I’ll be posting many more as we take them:
Category: My World (Page 4 of 15)
One of the main reasons why I bought this house is because I fell in love with the patio in the back of the house. It’s by no means a “pretty” patio, there is absolutely no elegance to it. The uneven cement floor shows traces of gray and red under its green paint. It has an OK glass table, but the chairs are cheap plastic (at least they don’t rot under the rain and I don’t have to worry about bringing them inside). The vegetation, controlled while the previous owner lived here, has gone wild: there are ferns and fig branches and tree leaves and so forth. Our patio clearly has its own micro-climate, and if anything, it resembles a tropical jungle. I love it! 🙂
What I like the most about my patio is my hammock. It’s multi-colored and tacky and absolutely lovely to lay on. It’s made in the Yucatan, and the Yucatecans make the absolutely best hammocks in the world, definitely the most comfortable.
I first came across Yucatecan hammocks when I traveled through the region 18 years ago. I found out that many, if not most, Yucatecans sleep on hammocks rather than beds and I had to find out for myself why that was the case. It doesn’t take long to figure it out, in the oppressing heat of the region, a hammock keeps you much cooler than a bed. I bought two for myself, a cotton one and a “silk” one (these are made from artificial fibers, not real silk). Cotton hammocks are said to be more comfortable (not my experience) and I think they’re cheaper, but silk hammocks are able to withstand the rain. I used the cotton one during my trip and then I stored them for seven years. There was no place to hang them in our little apartment. But I kept them, and when I saw the patio, I knew immediately my hammock would have a home.
And so it did. For seven years my “silk” hammock happily hang on the back and I spent many a happy morning or afternoon laying on it, reading a book or dreaming. I remember going there with my babies, swinging while telling them stupid made up stories about the garden. They were too young to understand 🙂
I also hang up my cotton hammock, but I was too lazy to remove it once the rains came, and it didn’t last more than one or two seasons. It wasn’t a huge lost, my patio can’t really fit more than one hammock in any case 🙁
After seven years, however, my hammock gave up. It was still usable, but it looked frumpy and tired, and its holes were starting to grow. I figured it was time for another one. Despite the fact that we had a hammock we had bought in Brazil a couple of years before, I wanted another Yucatecan hammock. Fortunately, these are easily (if expensively) available over the internet.
I can’t remember where I bought mine, so I can’t give you store recommendations, but if you do a search for “Yucatecan Hammock” you’ll find a bunch of places that sell them. I think I paid $85 for mine, which I hope is several times what they cost in the Yucatan (now that I’m going, I’m planning on buying another one), and it wasn’t as tightly knitted as the one I had before, but it’s great nonetheless. I love it! Indeed, I think it’s the one item in the house that makes me the happiest.
Last week I stayed in a hotel in Barcelona and pilfered all the toiletries (including 3 complimentary combs) as well as the packets of tea and instant coffee from the complimentary tea tray. Yes, I know it’s expected, but I still felt a little guilty.
Turns out I shouldn’t have. Hotels these days expect you to steal all sorts of stuff – as this CNN article (which you will note, I’m linking to but not stealing) notes – and some actually don’t mind, figuring that every time you look at the pilfered item you will remember what a good time you had when you were there last. The thinking, it goes, is that you’ll then return – personally I’d think I’d be too embarrassed.
Today is my 7th Mother’s Day – and I decided to treat myself by going shopping. Nothing extravagant, mind you.
I went to Thrift Town where I got a few containers that I may be able to use for cosmetics and a couple of little baskets. Some are very cute, and I want to take a picture of them after I dry them (I just washed). Stay tuned.
Then we went to a hardware store and got a bunch of plants to, well, plant. We’ve never been able to grow something before so I’m not very optimistic, but the kids want to do it and I’m willing to give it a try. I got lavender, chamomile, oregano and parsley for me, flowers for the kids (including some daisies). Let’s see where we can put them.
Now Mike and the kids are off to Seussical and I’m having a cup of tea before doing some cleaning/laundry. Yeah, not the ideal way to pass mother’s day, but if I don’t do it today, I still have to do it tomorrow.
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