Come With Me, Kitty!

It's called "Come with Me, Kitty" --- as silly a name as can be imagined. 

It is for our protection we hear. Well, it might look okay on the stuffed dog, but Alice bit the keeper when she said, "Come with me, Kitty" and tried to fasten it all. However, I was more docile

and  let her walk me on the leash outside.  I know who buys my cat food.

Hope

We are a simple family. We like simple happy things. The keeper is in love with sunflowers. 

And she would keep them all year if she could. We still have these hopeful faces in our living room as the wind howls and the rain pours and the unfinished deck looks like a sad broken promise.

We hear we may be going on a royal family vacation. We hope it doesn't involve an airplane, at least for us. We think we will be given kitty downers first. That's quite a trip in itself. Stay tuned.

Libby

Last evening our keeper dog sat for our neighbor dog, Libby. Libby is lame, blind in one eye, a bit of a mess. She barks loudly from the yard and projects utter fierceness. The keeper was tasked with feeding her and making sure she went out for a bathroom run. When the keeper entered the house, Libby hid in the corner, terrified. When she offered the dog food, Libby crawled into her cage. Finally she came out and snatched the food. The keeper tried every trick to get her to go out.  Libby slunk to to her cage and growled. The keeper clearly is not a dog whisperer, and Libby is not
anywhere near as fierce as her bark. At least we know that much now.  We understand that Libby's keepers found no tell tale traces of Libby's refusal to go out in the elements. Strong willed dog. Deserves our respect!

Lasagne and More!

Tonight we waved goodbye as she headed out to feast with her  dear friends. 

Jack and Michael had made the lasagne recipe which they had all cut out of this week's SeattleTimes.

It was delicious. So was everything else ! They shared ecclesiastical  gossip  and dreams for the Church. They spoke of Paris, Molokai, Rome, and China, and recalled a good friend in La Tierra Santa and other faithful servants of the Reign of God.

Old School

Later this afternoon after meetings at the chancery, she took up her roost at the SU Library, complete with ottoman, and got caught up on email and other work. The students are all back this week, but only the most diligent seem to be in the library this afternoon.

New School

This morning the keeper left us in the cold house and attended the blessing and rededication of  the school which she used to shepherd. Someone gave a lot of money to gut it and redo the whole structure. She saw some Los friends and had some good conversations with former parishioners.
The Archbishop preached about the Dead Sea, and several in attendance shared later that it had been 5 years ago that they were all floating together on that buoyant body of water.

Journey into Fall

Those of you who know us are aware that autumn is not the favorite season at the royal cottage. The keeper enters autumn with gnashing teeth and sadness.  And of course, we have to go with the program. And to top it off, it is getting cold. She refuses to turn on our furnace, she says it's the principle of the thing. We have to wait until October. Thank God that Alice and I have beautiful coats of fur. The keeper has to resort to down vests and long pants. We try to console her with the promise of the Winter Solstice, a mere three months from now, when the light begins to inch back. She is not yet consoled. And don't tell her about the fall colors! 

Autumn Stroll

The keeper came home and decided to walk off her 1000 calorie pastry, and a host of beautiful color welcomed her from sidewalks and front yards. 

Bakery Nouveau

We understand that she had another eye visit and then got a flu shot. So, there was a bit of self- rewarding, we understand. Across from Group Health is a new bakery where the keeper seems to be rewarding herself  quite often! They have no catnip treats, though.

Revisiting Old Habits

Tonight we decided to see what we missed last year when we switched our allegiance to Downton Abbey. We had to leave Revenge behind. So, just when we were ready to play the first round of the second season, we found out that we had better get caught up fast.

Last Full Moon of Summer

Sigh....we will miss summer, although it was odd at our house.

Progress on Deck!!!

On this last day of summer, ML showed up and is still here slaving feverishly to lay the floor on the main section of our deck. We are learning that it requires painstaking precision and patience, gifts which belong to neither of the two of us, and certainly not to the keeper. The rain and thunder never materialized either! We love it when ML is here because she lets us go outside and supervise.

Que Viva El Papa!

We are all big fans of Papa Francis here. This is a first in our house, when the keeper starts thinking of finding a nice small portrait of him to hang on our walls.  She is usually way more subtle. But he is speaking words of truth and compassion in simple, humble, and authoritative fashion! We are all impressed. We may even send him a note from all three of us. Maybe he will call us.

Harvest Moon

We all stayed out to watch the  harvest moon rising over the lake.

We thought it was the best choice she could possibly make, given the choices...a lecture, a book, or the moon... Yay moon!

Late Summer Walk

Late afternoon the keeper came home and decided to take a slow walk down to the lake.



The gardens are still very busy.

Noooooooooo!

This morning called for a trip to Costco so she wouldn't have to shop for several months.
Of course besides paper products, contact solution, and vegetables, there were seasonal items.
But sooooo soon. She was not the only one on the aisle tsk tsking and shaking her head in reproach.

In the Gloaming

Last eve following the very busy day of housewifery and more, we were fed and  the keeper took off to meet her friend Judy and many more at Newcastle for a fundraising dinner. She had so much fun she forgot to bring us home any leftovers or photos, except this one of the last light on the western horizon. We would have liked to see who was sitting at the table with her, but she said they were all wonderful, and she got an invitation to Canlis. 

Deck Progress

Little to no rain today so Alice and I snuck out to check on the deck. Progress. Some day those boards will all be nailed down. The keeper is channelling her deck-less energy into interior home projects. Today we watched her hang a new blind in the bedroom. She started this two weeks ago, but read the directions wrong and hung the brackets upside down, so the the Lowe's guy put a photo on her phone to show her the right directions. She is a true spatial dyslexic!

We Don't Like Thunder!

When the keeper came home to us from her rounds, she brought us sunflowers and hand-made coconut ginger sorbet. We told her how ML had brought all the decking lumber in and then had to go home. Now we know why. The thunder and lightning were wild and the rain pounded down on us like sheets of nails. We huddled together while the keeper used it as an excuse not to go walking or to the gym.  We are hoping for better weather for the golf tournament tomorrow. It's for such a good cause.

Planning for Impact!

Yesterday while we stayed home and watched ML work on the deck, the keeper drove into town for a meeting about a November conference her office is hosting. The first meeting was at Starbucks. They got a lot done. Then she headed to Bellevue. We heard that the traffic was so bad she was able to take two French lessons while she drove. Yes, she is learning French. We understand that Pimsleur has a great method. We think she sounds pretty good. But we are simple alley cats. Who are we to judge?

Longing for a Deck in Autumn

Hi, it's  me, Alice. The new beams for the deck make great scratching posts. I hope I don't rip them to shreds before the floor is laid. Cecil and I are hoping for a deck that we can lounge on by the time autumn begins. We can attest it will be very well made, whenever it is ready.

Tiramisu sans Flame

This year the birthday tiramisu had no candle on it. But that did not alter the wonderful taste.

Happy Birthday, Ward!

This eve she left us with our eel and seaweed stew and headed off to celebrate Ward's birthday and hers belatedly too. Off they went to Pomadoro which was buzzing, and Antolin was in rare form. After getting caught up on all the Pomadoro news they settled in for a great dinner.

We walk for peace

The keeper and several hundred others headed with lit candles all the way down Madison. They recounted the many times they prayed and walked for peace someplace. On many people's minds were the recollections of the night when 30,000 marched from Cathedral to Cathedral praying for and  protesting our participation in the Iraq war.

Peace, Peace,

We pray for peace. 

Prayer for an End to Violence

She told us we didn't have to do this, but she said that she and many many others all over the world toay are praying and fasting to an end to violence in Syria. Because we are cats we don't fast, but we are supporting her fast. Later she will head to an inter-religious prayer service and walk from the Cathedral to the Temple with many friends and companions.

We pray for God’s guidance, that nonviolent means may be found to put an end to the violence in Syria and throughout the Middle East.

 

God of Compassion,

Hear the cries of the people of Syria,

Bring healing to those suffering from the violence,

Bring comfort to those mourning the dead,

Strengthen Syria’s neighbors in their care and welcome for refugees,

Convert the hearts of those 

who have taken up arms,

And protect those committed to peace.

 

God of Hope,

Inspire leaders to choose peace over violence 

and to seek reconciliation with enemies,

Inspire the Church around the world 

with compassion for the people of Syria,

And give us hope for a future of peace 

built on justice for all.

 

We ask this through Jesus Christ,

Prince of Peace and Light of the World,

Amen.

 

Progress on our Deck!

We couldn't wait for the keeper to get home because while she had been away, we watched ML and her two sons working on the deck!! She is teaching them the trade. She is very patient.

Praying for Peace in Syria in the Sun!

She came home mid afternoon and let us take the sun on the front porch.  After these days of storm and rain, both Alice and I were overcome with gladness.And it was easy to pray for an end to the violence while basking on the warm tiles.

Lightning Strikes

Well, we won. We bid a fond farewell to the keeper this mornning. She was headed to her office with a long list of work to be started or finished. We could tell she was on a mission. We had no expectation to see her until dinner time, ours, that is. Half hour ago, we heard the car tear into the driveway, the key turn in the door, and guess who flew back in, none too happy. It seems that last night lightning had struck one of the buildings housing all of the internet server stuff at the keeper's office. Nothing was working. She fumed. She waited for the prognosis, did what she could, and came back to us. She wasn't particularly pleased to see us either.  We told her to just breathe.

But, I have decided to sit next to her and be a calming presence so she can focus for the remainder of the day. I asked her to pull up another chair next to hers.  I promise I will not sleep on the warm computer keyboard. She is so lucky to have us in her life.

Waiting Out the Rain

We are both hoping that the rain stops soon. We like the fresh smell of it all, but do not want to get our paws muddy. We also want to sit on our deck again some day.