November

It was such a busy and happy month, and once more I neglected to document things.  I did better when I tried to write at least one sentence a day.  Even though most of it was boring, I got me here to post the important things.

I'll see how much time I have today and get a few pictures posted.

It's windy and rainy and 49 degrees, a good day to stay inside. On Mondays, Emily works at home, so she does the delivery to school, and I do the pickup.  Sounds fair to me!

This was my summer-looking balcony this morning.  This geranium is just the cheeriest.  Too bad it's too chilly to sit out and enjoy it.

The Christmas/Thanksgiving/whatever cactus blooms whenever it pleases.

We've only had one freeze so far, but it's coming this weekend, so I'll gather it back up and bring it in.  I might bring in the geraniums too.

That kitty cat I was wanting came to live with us this month.  It got too confusing for me to look at shelters on line and figure out where they were, so Elise finally took matters into her own hands and drove to the Bellevue shelter and brought home Layla.  Graysen named her on sight after a sweet friend she had last year.  It's fine.  She seems like a Layla.

I've had gray tabbies off and own since 1967 and kind of wanted a different color, but this is the one who reached out to Elise and won her heart.  And we're so glad she did.  I've never seen a kitten come into a home and just be comfortable stepping out of the carrier.  No ears back, no running and hiding, no fear at all.  

The girls were here when she arrived, and we had to keep them from rushing up to her, but she didn't seem to mind.  It's like she had been waiting for little girls to love all her life - all 9 weeks of it!  I know the girls had been waiting for a kitten for a long time.

She's so patient with them and is content to ride up and down the hall in a plastic box pushed by Katherine, just sitting there and enjoying her trip.    This is the first day she was here - not bothered by anything, even constant chatter and giggling.

I ordered her cat food and litter from Chewy along with some toys, and it paid off, because as I left Friday, this nice strong young man was bringing up this 50-lb box - running - and one more time I won't have to bring it up those stairs step by step.  

For me?

She plays with her scratching pad, ball-chasing apparatus a lot - mainly when we're trying to sleep, but that's okay.  She's a little afraid of the feathers on a wand, but the laser is, of course, an obsession already.  If I pick it up and jingle it a little bit, she magically appears and looks at the floor waiting.  I have to keep it in a drawer, because she'll go and drag it off.

We really do love her.  She purrs very loudly and head butts you and just sits and looks at you sometimes.  I have to be careful walking, because right now, she takes every step I do, darting in front of me.  I think one step-on will get her changing her habits.  Graysen took the Chewy box and made her a castle with her toy and blanket inside and all kinds of embellishments, but here's where I saw her sleeping last night.  That can't be comfortable.

Oh, and puzzles.  Emily and I can't have a holiday season without thinking we can put together puzzles.  We overdid it last year and did not apologize for it.  We'd prefer to do them together, but there's a limit of time we have to spend together, so I brought one of them home to work on.  BIG mistake.  There's no way a cat can not pull all the pieces onto the floor.

I decided to put this one out on my table before the Christmas decorations come up and work on it here and there.

Whoa, 2000 teeny tiny pieces!  The first time I worked on it and tried to find the border pieces, I woke up the next morning to find them scattered all over the table and floor.

So this is my solution.

But not good enough.  This is what I found this morning.  Unfortunately, cats do not honor boundaries.  I'll be pulling out the rest of my cutting mats. 

It's a losing battle and a mindless activity for sure, but I do enjoy spending a few minutes here and there searching for a particular piece.  It keeps me from the depressing news I can't help be bombarded with on Facebook and Google News.

That's all my time today.  I have to get myself out in the rain to go pick up sweet girls.  Looks like a hot chocolate and kitty-playing afternoon to me.