No Oscars for Us

Well, let us tell you about our Oscar Night.  We were excited, we had set up our stations in the den, and we waited and waited.  Cecil had the top of the couch.  I had the seat. She didn't give us an exact time.  But we suspected we might miss the first portion, yet  the screen stayed  dark, and the garage door opener didn't make its sound. Finally she got in it after 8.

We impatiently asked what could be more important than the Oscars.  Well, she went on about how she had been to 4 churches. and driven 100 miles.

We were not impressed. 

But when she said that the homily at St. James this morning was a real Academy Award winner, we were interested and very impressed.

So, she asked us why we wanted to see the Oscars, since not even she had seen the movies.

We confessed that we were really only into it for the fashion commentary.

Enough Already!

We spied the keeper sneaking onto the Alaska Airline website checking out flights to

Palm Springs and Hawaii.  We checked her calendar and didn't see any upcoming conferences. So, do you think she is sick of snow and even more so, having freezing feet and hands?  We do.

Aloha.

It's Cold and Pretty

Soon this crystalline reality will be gone. Soon the daphne will bloom and the worms will start moving and the keeper will be working herself to death in the yard.

Snow Cream

Yes, dear friends, the snow is still on the ground. ( It's Cecil, by the way.) The keeper let me go out with her and I surprised her by eating the snow.  When I was much younger I lived in a place where we had lots of snow.  My feet are not as tough as they used to be, though.  But Alice isn't fond of snow, and so had me do all of the scouting and marking of the yard for her.  I was happy to do it.

Still Waiting For Spring

What were the ground hogs thinking?

We stayed in mostly today.  The keeper stayed home and pounded out a budget and an annulment.  She took Cecil out to play in the snow.  Even he didn't  want to

play there very long.  He did smell the raccoon we saw last night  though.

Onto world news, we are all fascinated in what is going on in Libya.

And on the homefront, the keeper is a little bummed that the patio project will cost three times the original cost. The original wood beams are rotten.

Why our Daphne Refuses to Bloom

 We think this is why

our daphne does not want to bloom quite yet.

Snow

The snow is back and the keeper left us for a meeting.  As she left, the sky opened up and huge snowflakes came down that were as big as dog and cat paws. When the keeper came back it was dark but she let us out.  We tried to be brave, but new snow came down like hail pellets and it was slippery on the deck. now we know why the daphne doesn't want to bloom.

Moss Lawn

 We found signs of spring in the middle of our lawn which is fast becoming a field of moss. The keeper says we may keep it that way.  There are famous gardens in Bainbridge Island that use moss for their lawns too.

Sniffing Out Spring

Cecil, here.  The keeper and I spent a little time outside when she came home from the gym today.  I sniffed out signs of spring.  Not a lot of worms wriggling yet, but the crocuses are defying dirt, mulch, and predictions of snow.  However, the daphne are resisting the urge.  They're still waiting in tight little buds for warmer days and more sun.

In Need of a Little Spring

The vine chair in the side yard is in need of a little spring to send the vines weaving a new seat. Right now it looks like something from Grey Gardens. Even the birds avoid it.  The neighbor cat with the thick ash grey fur didn't even rub up against it.  We checked.

So Grounded!

You will all note that we are now taking great advantage of our new cat mattresses from Friendly Foam.  Cecil got grounded yesterday (he snuck out and was found four houses away this time) and so we spent the day inside taking in the sun on our perches. It really wasn't much of a punishment, and I doubt it will transform his behavior.  We tried to amuse the keeper who  sat at her computer all day working on these annulment things. She was not amused by our efforts, and reminded us that this work at the computer was the source of our fancy schmancy cat food. It was a very chilly day. Not too many cats passed through the yard. But Todd came over to measure our patio for a new cover. Even he didn't stay out too long.

Midwinter Pearl

It is midwinter, and a bit bleak, at that.  However, the sight of the moon rising in mystery through the clouds and bare tree limbs was something none of us wanted to miss.  All three of us stood on the hot tub cover, awed.  Although Cecil seemed more interested in licking up the rainwater. While he lapped, the keeper and I toasted our departed moonlover, Prince Anastassi. The next thing we knew it had slipped into its veil of cloud. 

Evening Lightening

 It's getting lighter every evening.  The keeper brought us home these glimpses of the western sky which she took leaving her office at 6 PM.  We were happy to be able to see her so early tonight.
Even though we ran out as soon as she got in the door we ran right back in because it was very wet and chilly out. Instead we watched her work out to Jillian Michaels which is always very entertaining.  Then she again shared her steamed salmon and greens with us.  We had a quiet night after the entertainment was over.

Oceans and Friendly Foam

Well, in case we left you all hanging about what we gave the keeper for Valentine's Day, here's the scoop.  We simply both met her at the door when she returned from her meeting.  Then we slept next to her head all night.  We are not sure if she slept too well.  But we wanted to assure her of our devotion. she seemed pleased.

Then today she brought us a present from Friendly Foam.  At first we protested because we don't like beer, but she said it wasn't that kind of store.  She told us that she had driven by it for years on Roosevelt Way, also believing it was a neighborhood watering hole.  But she recently learned it had much better fare. We now have new egg crate mattresses for our feline window seats.  The old ones were pretty ragged and hard.  Then we all watched Oceans.  Of course if she would buy us a decent television we could have watched it in HD at least.  But we appreciated being able to see where our food comes from.  And we loved watching the rolling globes of sardines spinning around the whales and the stunning ribbon eels and the blue fin tuna.  The keeper even let us have some steamed salmon and Cecil had some coconut ice cream. Not bad for the day after Valentine's Day.  Maybe we should buy her a new TV next year.

Happy Valentine's Day

We received a few cards for today and we checked each for catnip treats ( Score: 0).  However, the keeper told us that every day is Valentine's Day for us because we are so lucky to have her in our lives.  Then she told us she was waiting for her treat.  Alice and I looked at each other with a little panic, but we have a few more hours to come up with something outside of the usual litter box offerings and we think she will be leaving us for a few hours so we can conspire freely.  Alice already told me that hair balls are not an option.  So we are sending out a lifeline for cheap and easy ideas that don't require hunting, shopping, or baking.

Do you know that there were two St. Valentines?  One was a bishop and the other a doctor/priest. Do you know that today is really the feast day of Sts. Cyril and Methodius? We do.  The keeper gave us a little lesson this morning.

We Are Back

 

Thanks to all of you who sent us

emails asking if we were still alive. We are all very much alive and well.  We would have liked to tell you all about our somewhat quiet week at home but the keeper was off and running every day into the evenings and ignored our pleas.  All week we listened to her chanting a mantra one of her friends gave her, "I will not succumb to the vortex." We hoped we were not the vortex.  We didn't think so. So today when she got back from a class and meeting in Bellevue with Fr. F, we howled and sat on the computer until she got the hint.  She said it was an excellent class.  But it had a sad ending when one of the students got word that her father had been discovered dead in his home. 

But now to the more interesting news about US--Alice and Cecil.  First the bird news:  we have a flock of little sparrows or finches that come by the hundreds to the bird feeders.  And we are stuck at the windows drooling, and pawing powerlessly. And, we daresay, leaving slimy trails of drool on the window panes. There is also a new big fat brown cat who is prowling our territory. Long hair.  Pretty face.  Then we smelled a skunk one night.  Cecil had to explain what skunks do when they are afraid and told me never to mistake a skunk for him.  He said the keeper would have to shave my fur and wash me in tomato juice.

I started taking homeopathic pet meds for my allergies.  I know the keeper is sneaking it into my food.  But I feel better.  Cecil is dealing with hairballs right now. We went on a food strike last week and now we have a new kind of cat food. It has quinoa in it.  Speaking of strikes, we have been glued to the radio listening about Egypt and rejoiced with them in their freedom.  However, we know that they know it will be a struggle to move into a more democratic form of governance, and so we keep them and their pets in our hearts and prayers.

Thank you for reading all of this.  We've been saving it up for a while.

A Memorial Vigil with Tuna Treats

 Tonight the keeper led us in a little memorial service for Stassi.  We stood outside in the wind and lit candles in the lanterns and put a new flower out.  Both Cecil and I kept watch at the window for several hours until the candles burned themselves out.  It seemed a fitting vigil for a friend and a royal. The keeper gave us treats and pesto chicken. I think he would have liked it---some fuss and some treats for all.



Remembering Prince Anastassi

Today was a day of remembrance for us here, at least for me, Alice, and the keeper.  We tried our best to explain to Cecil that it was one year ago today that we laid Prince Anastassi to his rest.  I told Cecil about the years we spent together and how even as he became old, he still would hunt every day, or at least pretend to do so.  I also mentioned that he was kind of a crabby cat, and a little snooty.  The day he died I was very sad and I waited for him to rise back up from his little grave for months.  For months I sat at the window watching for signs of movement in the dirt under the wisteria vines.  I still miss him, but Cecil is beginning to distract me. And nice flowers have bloomed all winter at his grave.

Diserning Charisms and Gifts

We shooed the keeper off this morning so she could make her church rounds.  She spent most of the afternoon in Bellevue with the young adults who had invited Fr. Edgar in to talk about discerning charisms and gifts.  They had spent the morning giving out coffee and donuts to the day laborers at 3 Home Depots. Meanwhile back at the ranch I chased Alice around the house.  she is getting the hang of Hide and Seek.  I have trained the keeper now, so now we can all play.

Book Festival

We waved good bye this morning after finishing off a nice new can of chicken pate cat food and settled into long naps.  It was a damp day anyway.  And we do not watch Saturday cartoons.
The keeper spent the day at SU at the book festival.  She spoke but was hoping no one would come so she could attend other speakers, but she had to speak.  People actually came to her talk.  She was less then pleased with her own efforts, she said.  And she was very tired--another day of seeing hundreds of friends and having half-conversations, most often interrupted by another person, and on and on.  She left before it ended. But she did come home with a big sack of new books.  We reminded her that we have no more room for new books and she will have to jettison some to make room for these.  So stay tuned for the book sale signs to go up. We are not giving up any of our space for these new books.

A Celebration of Light



 The keeper came home this afternoon from being downtown and then changed into much nicer clothes.  We knew she would soon be off when the food came flying at us and she told us to behave.  Yes, she was off to the Celebration of Light, but the pictures make it look fairly dark. She came home buzzed on chocolate and caffeine and told us that there were probably 1300 people or more there.  She was pleased to be able to sit at a table next to the back of the banquet room with friends.  She said we would have liked the sea bass. She saw 1000 of her favorite acquaintances--"kiss kiss, How are you doing?  You look great! Let's have lunch in 2016, Must run,  kiss kiss."   She actually enjoys mingling like that.  Go figure. However, she had a good conversation about cats with one of the priests she works with.  We have given his cat Samson some of our atomic homegrown dried catnip. She told us she thinks they raised a lot of money.  We would like to have had a morsel of the sea bass brought home to us, at least as a token of her gratitude for our vigilant care of the home in her absence. But, she was too busy mingling, we suppose.

Is She Seeing Other Cats?

The keeper attended a gathering in West Seattle this morning and came home with the scent of other cats.  We did not recognize them.  Then, she whipped out photos and started telling  us about them.  Clearly she wasn't trying to hide this from us.  We don't think she is being unfaithful or anything.  But, in the top photo, the one stretched out is Benny.  He was hit by a car last year and had a head injury, but has healed nicely and is back in fine shape.  In fact this morning he knocked over a gallon pitcher of water on the kitchen floor and played in it.  Then the black one perched on the top of the china closet is Crissy, obviously a bit more shy then Benny, but she is the queen of all she surveys.  She rules.  By the way, do you know there are more black cats left at cat shelters than any other color?  Some people are afraid of them.  That's sad.  Anyway we think these cats will stay in West Seattle and we won't have to deal with them whisker to whisker.  However, we could probably be Facebook friends.

Traffic Stop

Yes, she left us to go downtown and yes, she was on I-5, and says traffic stopped when she caught this view.  Why is it we don't always trust her when she goes outside in that car? We admit, however, it was a beautiful sight.  Did any one see the Big Dipper these last nights? We did through our bedroom window.  We would have like to have seen it from outside, but we have already explained what a challenge it  is to get out the door these days.

Sunbathers

Once the keeper finally came home from her new gym, we all went outside to take the sun.  We bathed and I found a warm nesting spot under the apple tree.  It felt wonderful to be outside again. But our time was all too short because she needed to sit at her computer and write a talk.  Why is it that she doesn't trust us out there?

Planet Fitness

Alice here--- well it's time for the fitness kick again.  Last year we went through Jillian's workout DVD's at home, and we ran and hid as the keeper did cardio in the den because the house shook.
Cecil missed all of it.  But now she's taken it out of the house to a new gym where they say there are no critics.  She likes it, and I told Cecil that we will have to endure her complaints about her sore muscles tomorrow.  She said they gave out free bagels and cream cheese after workouts.  We know Jillian would not approve.