New Addition to this Home

Life sure takes turns. This wallpaper nightmare has so consumed my everyday existence. I have to admit I have been taking my time with this. Years past I would have had this job cranked out in no time.

It was late Sunday afternoon my neighbor Christy stopped by. She is a wonderful woman who works with the feral cats in the neighborhood. Her group traps these cats and then has the females fixed to help keep the population in check. Christy was heart broken when I lost Stumpy and Kitty Belle. She understood as to why I was holding back on letting another cat into my life till after the trip in January.

Christy was on her way home after feeding the feral cats. She told me of a Tortoiseshell cat just six doors down from me she has been looking over. This cat lived under a student rental house. The students already had two cats and were unable to care for another. The students called this cat “Patches”. Christie related how this cat is so loving and friendly and it broke her heart to think with the cold nasty weather coming this cat would have to fend for herself. She also added the finishing touch how she would stop by every day of my trip to love this girl down and feed her if I decided to bring her into my life. That did it!

The ice around my heart melted. This house has really been lonely with Stumpy and Kittybelle gone. Monday around 4:00 p.m. Christy was at my house with this cat. We let her out of the carrier in the “wallpaper room” to let her get acquainted a bit with being indoors. She came right to me for pets and loves. She was purring a mile a minute with her whiskers fanned out, which means. “I feel safe and secure” in cat language.

This little cat passed her feline leukemia test, so she has a pretty clean bill of health. She has her ear clipped which is a sign she is feral and she has been fixed. She appears to be pretty young. In a few weeks I’ll get her to my vet for her shots. No outside for this cat for quite a while. I want to acclimate her to this house so she knows she has a home. I knew she was at home when I discovered her asleep on the back sofa cushion. Every cat that has ever owned me has made those back cushions “home”.

I need to find a name for this little cat. I’m sorry, but I can’t call her “Patches” as it brings to mind that horrible, morbid song from the 1960’s of teen love, angst, and suicide. My sister suggested “Holly” because it is around XMAS… I’ve slipped a number of times in calling her “Daggy” as she is so like my old girl.

Christy called last night about 8:30 to see how we were getting on. I had to laugh when I related we were both lying in the bed watching the “Beverly Hillbillies” on the Youtubes! Some things never change. A dialogue between me and Ron from nearly 30 years ago plays on an endless loop in my mind:

1:00 a.m. a long time ago.
Ron: Jimmy, get to bed now!
Jamie: In a minute Ron, Honey (Ron’s old tabby cat) wants to watch the rest of “Mr Ed”.
Ron: (With extreme exasperation in his voice) Jimmy, Honey does NOT want to watch “Mr. Ed”, get to bed NOW!!!!

It was like old times to have a cat jumping in and out of bed all night long. As I type this out, my new kitty stops for bits and pieces, then continues on her expedition of exploring her new home. Just as I’m going;pl[[[[[[[[[[[[.;llllllllll to save this entry my kitty has returned and I can hear her purring....( she just jumped up on my lap and keyboard!) Life is good…