Advent II

A wise and dear  friend, after hearing about Alice's passing, 

spoke about the empty and emptiness

as our Advent this year.

Certainly very true.

The house is so quiet and I am getting used to it.

 A gift from the vet arrived today.

Very sweet.

We also know that HRH's treatment bills probably paid for 

 the orthodontia for the vet's child or private schooling.

But they are wise to acknowledge the loss they couldn't prevent,

which  was inevitable.

Remembering Lady Alice--Part Two

Lady Alice and Prince Anastassi had some adjustment problems 

at first. Stassi's nose got pushed out of joint more than once by the frisky

 little rescue princess. 

The keeper and everyone else made such a fuss over her.

He felt he had lost his place in the royal household.

But, after awhile, she won him over 

with her innocent charm and her big eyes. 

She let him be the big brother.

They became the best of friends.

And shared the patrol of the backyard and the back porch.

St. Nicholas Day

Today the Feast of St. Nicholas shone bright and chilly.

The half moon rose bright over the bare branches.

The sun set like a campfire over the Bay.

No snow, but a biting wind.

Celebrating Sr. Linda

This afternoon we celebrated Sr. Linda who is leaving IPJC and going to be the congregational leader of the SNJM's.

About 250 of her closest friends showed up.  It was a love fest.  There wasn't enough time to see and chat with everyone. 

                             There were great speeches about the huge impact she had made, awards, and a blessing. But  Linda had the last word...

a gift of mulling spices to all to brew a beverage and create hospitality and fuel for conversation 

about the critical issues of our time--most likely now, immigration.

Happy Birthday, Suzy!

On Friday night we celebrated Suzy's birthday at Piatti. 

We stayed a long time. We will need another party to celebrate Patty B's 

new position at IPJC.

Remembering Lady Alice

Lady Alice landed at the royal cottage because of a pet blessing.

The keeper was the leader of a north end church and every year the parish celebrated the Feast of St. Francis with blessing of the pets. 

The blessings brought out cat, dogs, snakes, chameleons, hamsters, birds, ferrets and rats. 

Two parishioners ran a wonderful non profit cat rescue shelter called Whisker City.

Each year they brought some of their cats, especially those with some difficulties, for blessing.

Baby Girl was one of the cats brought in 2005. When she was rescued, she was starving, sick, and needed 24 hour monitoring.  The great staff there kept her alive and brought her back to life. 

In the picture below, she is the cat on the left who looks fairly disgusted with the  whole event. 

It was after the blessing that the Whisker City folks suggested that the keeper needed another cat to join Prince Anastassi at the cottage. Stassi's good friend, Lord Downs, had died in April. Stassi was lonely.  So, in October 2005. Baby Girl, moved to the cottage. The keeper renamed her Lady Alice.

Lady Alice and Prince Anastassi quickly became friends and were inseparable.

They were both finicky and a little snotty, so they understood each other.

( to be continued)

HRH

Farewell, Your Ladyship

The Royal Cottage sadly announces the passing
of Her Royal  Highness, Lady Alice, aka Baby Girl.

January 1, 2001---December 2, 2016

Lady Alice slipped away peacefully in her keeper's lap at home on the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 2.
She had been battling a severe bacterial infection,
liver failure, and a possible tumor.
The veterinarians were racing against the clock to find a proper treatment.
However, Alice had grown tired and too weary from waiting.
The vet called ten minutes after her death with a treatment plan which was not to be.

She was buried in a private service this morning  at Kittyrood next to her dear friends,
Lord Cecil and Prince Anastassi, who predeceased her.

Kittyrood was illuminated tonight with candles and extra lights in her honor.

Lady Alice lived with a certain narcissistic self confidence and impeccable taste.
She was very comfortable helping the keeper entertain.
In 2010 she became the main feline voice for this blog.
Her commentary became quite adept over the years.

She may have been fooling everyone about her age.  

Although everyone thought she was 13 going on 14, a document was found from the original cat rescue that suggested a birth date of 2001. 

She took that secret to Kittyrood.

May she rest in peace, in the arms of the angels,

where she is free of allergies and this final disease.