Rock Musicians Needed

We apologize again for the lack of posts.  Last night the keeper tried to post all of our posts and Blogspot was down everywhere,  so we had to live with another day of delay.  But it wasn't her fault this time. Meanwhile, she found a new paper posted to one of the phone poles. Lately we have had a lot of missing cat posters.  But this one was different--we told her she was too old to call. And she gave her guitar away to her friend Steve, thank God.

Our First Rose

On Monday the keeper let  us play outside while she worked on our roses.  She took all of the black spot leaves off and then sprayed them all with NEEM oil to prevent more problems.  We have so many roses she had to do the same thing on Tuesday too.

From the Fields to Town Hall

So, as we were getting up from our late morning nap, the keeper was hauling back down to Seattle to the Town Hall, so she could be part of the visit of Illinois US Representative Luis Gutierrez  and the rally with him  for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.  She said that 4 people told horribly moving stories of their loved ones being physically removed from their homes at gunpoint by ICE and sent to immigration detention and then deported back home to whichever country they hailed from. One young man told of being awakened with a gun at his back by ICE authorities.  Rep. Gutierrez was very inspiring, and raised the fact that all of us must challenge the President to stop deporting undocumented college students as well as many others.  She came home inspired.

Sunday at the Migrant Camp

We waved good bye very early ( 6 am) on Sunday morning as the keeper left us again.  She did give us lovely food, and Alice had to take her pill.  She headed to Burlington to join her young adults in their work with the children in on of the Burlington migrant camps.  They brought up 100s of tamales and rice and cookies, as well as games and art supplies.  The sad thing was that because of the weather the strawberries weren't ready for harvest so the parents were also still in the camps without work.  The children were really hungry and these little people had two, three helpings.   Then they fell into a beading/ bracelets and necklace making trance. Some of the children spoke more English than the young adults.
They also speak Spanish and Mizteco.  They are from southern Oaxaca in southern Mexico.

She Left Us

Both Alice and I apologize for the hole in the blog this past week.  We howled and begged her to sit and download her photos, but no, she kept running off to yet another event.  Last Friday she left us for Bremerton where she was giving a retreat on the next day.  She left us in the care of Ann the neighbor.  And the good news was that Alice didn't have to take her meds while the keeper was gone because the keeper did not want to alienate her friends.  I believe I have mentioned here before how Alice can scratch and bite and resist her meds.  By the way, the keeper came home and said the retreat was well received.

More Friends with Pets

We understand from the keeper that we would like these three people a lot.  Two of them now have three dogs who are as well cared for as we are.  Would that all animals had such fine keepers. We also understand that our other friend adopted a new cat named Tobias who is older and needed a good home.  We are always very pleased when an older cat gets a home, especially Cecil, who was taken to Whisker City about a year ago this week.  So, congratulations, Tobias, may you live long and happy in your forever home!

Table XVI--The Rain

We have little to share from the feline world.  How could we? We have been stuck inside for two days. Alice is feeling a little better but not perfect yet, thank you for asking. However, the keeper has a more interesting life. Tonight she ran in to drop off her work gear and threw us some food, not our favorite flavor, by the way. The next noise we heard after the click of the lock was the car zooming out of the driveway.  Destination: Cathedral Place--Ministry Dinner.  She sat at Table 16 with great people, one of which was not in the picture, and the other one was way in the back of the picture. She said the food was incredible--not the normal Costco Church lasagna.  They even provided percussion for a psalm. Table 16 was rain, slapping puddle rain.  We are both sure you had to be there to understand this last part.

Thank You Gerardo and Crew!

This weekend the yard was transformed by three of the hardest working guys who cleaned up our hedges and yard and flowers and shrubs so that we can hold up our head with pride in the neighborhood. Gerardo Loredo and the  gang are the best!!!

Morning Surprise At Northgate Veterinary Clinic

Well, as predicted, the cage came out and the keeper snuck around all nice and sweet, and then she threw me into the crate.  Cecil barely said goodbye, and within minutes I was back on Dr. Smalley's examining table, getting prodded and poked.  Then after my annual shots and an antibiotic shot, they gave me back to the keeper.  She was happy to see me, but more thrilled because Prince Anastassi's picture was posted on their bulletin board. It was taken when he was feeling pretty good several summers ago, we think.  Anyway, I am going to be getting better soon, according to Dr. Smalley.

Trinity Sunday

The keeper attended the Sunday evening liturgy  at the Cathedral and was thrilled to see that the beautiful banners are still hanging over the platform.

A Bad Case of Kitty Alllergies

Here I am enshrined on the keeper's bed.  This has been a terrible allergy season for me.  She does her best, giving me medicine twice a day and saline nose drops twice a day.  I do my best to avoid her and to put up the biggest fight possible.  Unfortunately she has scars all over her arms, hands and shoulders because I am so dramatic. She is washing all of the pillows now.  She is running out of things to clean.  I think the allergens are really outdoors, but it's nice to have such a clean house!

Farewell, Dear Mathilde

The keeper left us again on Wednesday for a funeral Mass for a very special lady named Mathilde who served the church for decades, She was a force for pastoral care and attentiveness to the homebound.  The service was a lovely tribute to her.

Her great grandson offered a fine eulogy. Cecil is admiring the order of service from the funeral because he couldn't attend.

A Night in Firenze

The keeper brought home little cardboard cartons of food on Tuesday evening.  A board dinner, she said.  She said they discovered a new haunt in Bellevue, Firenze, run by Salvatore Lembo from Firenze and Sicily.   We particularly liked the penne with pesto.

A Pentecost Extravaganza

The keeper has been very occupied with many activities this week, and very few of them included us.  We watched the beautiful sunlight from our indoor perches.  Alice's allergies are still bothering her and the keeper has been filling her with saline nose drops, allergy pills, and eucalyptus scented cloths near her bed.
But what kicked this week off was an incredible celebration of Pentecost at the Cathedral.  The banners were stunning, the music was earthy, ethereal, and so everything flowed together, and on and on she said.  We believed her.  We liked the banners hanging over the platform.  We understand the church was filled with birds singing as well.

Missing WIngs

The tulips had a hard spring.  They took forever to blossom and landed on the ground for the weight of all the rain water.  Some are still hanging on.  But others now litter our driveway like fallen wings.  Speaking of wings, yesterday we had quite an incident in the neighborhood.  A crow was hopping around the front yard like a chicken, squawking, and it looked like it had lost its wings. It hopped through the hedge to the neighbors' yard and hid. Suddenly, the whole crow clan took up residence in all the trees and made such a noise we all went inside and shut the doors.  We wonder what happened to its wings?  How does a crow lose its wings?  It wasn't a baby.  It was pretty big.  Do crows have disability programs?

Purple Mess

Our front yard garden needs work, but the flowers are doing a nice job of camouflage right now.  The keeper hopes they will stay for a long time.

Feline Afternoon on the Deck

The server at the keeper's office went down this afternoon.  She came home to work.  So we promised to stay in the yard and nap.  Alice, after a month of wonderful allergy free existence, thanks to the new pet allergy pills, seems to have gotten the keeper's allergies and respiratory distress.  So she is breathing like a pig and having to receive nose drops twice or three times a day.  She likes them better than the allergy pills.  The keeper is covered with scratches from the allergy pill fights. But Alice is pretty miserable and not having much fun. We have a feeling she will have to visit Dr. Smalley soon.

Nothing Like. . .

Nothing like a sunny, warm evening in Seattle on Elliott Bay. It makes us forget the rain very quickly. 

Trapeze for Dinner

The keeper left us for the evening and joined her friends Anthony and Ann for dinner at the Pink Door.  The attraction for them was not so much the food but to have dinner while being entertained by a trapeze artist flying over their table, dipping into their wine and entrees.  They all agreed that  even if they worked out for the rest of their lives, they should never take up the trapeze. It requires an athleticism which is far beyond their reach. 

Hello to Ann and Anthony

The keeper spent the later part of the day with her old friend from college, Anthony, and his wife Ann.  They used to live in Manhattan but have retired in Georgia.  Anthony sings with the choir of St. Paul's Episcopal in Augusta.  They were on tour and sang at St Mark's Cathedral on Sunday. The keeper said the singing was very fine.  We understand that they are cat people. We approve.

Sunday Farewell to Brenda

The keeper leaves us at home a lot.  And this morning was no different than other mornings.  Today we had hoped to go outside.  But instead we both got medicine and a goodbye kiss.  Alice threw up her medicine and her breakfast. The keeper was late for her first event. But later today she and the young adults had a farewell party for Brenda the intern.  After they blessed her, they ate every kind of food imaginable, but there was no Mexican food! Then they played charades.  Brenda made a great impression on the group and they will miss her. 

Special Sacred Tour

The keeper came home late last night.  She had spent an entire day doing something called professional development.  We have no idea what that is, but she was so excited about the ideas she and the LEMMINGS gained from a new book on liturgy and the four presences of Christ which her friend has written. 

Then she joined some of the young adults and the star intern who is ending her time with the keeper for Taize Prayer  and a special cathedral tour.  They learned about everything and saw most everything inside and out---from the organ bellows to the rainbow and the sacrifice of Noah on the front doors to how those to be baptized face the west and the setting sun and death to die to sin and be raised up in Christ and how then they process back facing the east and the new dawn to practice the resurrection now living in them. 

Enchantment

"Can you remember the faint sweetness of the iris?" the keeper asked us.  We thought we did.  But we smell lots of things all the time.  She lifted us up and made us pay attention.  Alice started sneezing.  Then the keeper told us how when she was a girl she would wake up early and run outside to smell the irises as they opened.  She said the fragrance was enchanting, and it still is. Alice and I agree that it's good she doesn't have a cat's sense of smell or she would never get any work done.  She would be too enchanted.

A Sunny End to May

Sorry, folks.  We have been hounding the keeper all week to be responsible and keep up this blog.  But sometimes she thinks we are asking for more food.  She may be adept at some languages, but ours is not one of them.  Last Tuesday she  let us spend most of the day outside with her as she worked in the yard and sneezed. So Alice headed to the  garage for rest amidt the dust, while I, Lord Cecil, caught up on my Vitamin D.