She.
We’ve gotten desperate with Tanner, who has maintained a state of screaming (thank goodness few blows landed) war with Sei and Shu. And any time we go into the kitchen we get Tanner howling on the stairs. If Jane moves at night—he hears, and starts howling. After months and months and months of trying…
My last theory was—female kitten to keep the old guy company down there. The pound had only older cats. The feed store had little black kittens, one female.
She is a Siamese-y type, elegant, long-legged, and gifted with a mighty purr. She is inky black all the way to the skin, except a hazy locket and white tufts in her ears, so I’m betting a Siamese mama, POSSIBLY a snowshoe Siamese, and a random Romeo—hard to guess from which side of the blanket the ear tufts come.
She has no fear—well, her little heart beats hard when I bring her near Tanner, but she’s quiet about it; and I deliberately hold her while petting him. He’s gotten from foul-mouthed yowl to a hiss to a huh! well… And her purr has a lot of do with it. Shu isn’t keen on her on first meeting; but Sei is, well, stoic about it, and trying to be polite.
She’s 8 weeks old. She hasn’t told us her name yet. But we’re listening. Her joking name is Nefernefernefer, Egyptian for beautiful, 3x. And what we swore about a fourth kitty in the household.
Today we hope to get some pictures.
Last night and too early this morning, I heard what was probably Curry, fighting and/or wenching outside. Sigh. And no meows at either door. He does know how to do that (and loudly) if he wants to. So, well, I figure it’s over but I still wish him well. If he needs help when it’s too cold or wet out, OK. I could be tempted to put food — outside — if he comes around asking. If I let him in, it’d be better to keep him and Goober separated to prevent the chance of Goober getting anything Curry’s picked up while out there. Dang it. But…yeah, it wasn’t meant to be. This is the 4th day since I saw him last. He’d stick around if he wanted to. However, with kids and adults and their activity around, he’s likely to do what he’s been doing, what all the stray cats around here do, which is to make themselves scarce most of the time, and hunt and prowl and so on when the humans are not so busy and present.
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It’s Nov. 4th, and I’ve realized it’s time to start thinking of what and how much I want to do for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. I will have to decide if I want to make my grandmother’s homemade stuffing recipe, or the Wassail recipe, for either or both dinners, and what side dishes and what for the entrée. I did fish one year and roast another year, just to be different and try it. I won’t likely do a lot. I’m expecting it to be just me and the cat as usual, the past many years. But one or the other meals, I want to do a little so it’s not just blah or prone to make me feel sorry for myself. I might try enchiladas or something I’ve never fixed before. Leaning toward making stuffing rather than the Stove Top Stuffing box, although that’s pretty good, it’s not the same as the old Chronicle paper recipe my grandmother favored; and the Wassail is very tasty. There’s not a very convenient way to halve the Wassail recipe, given the juice can sizes. But I like it so I may make it. I’ll decide whether I want chicken, turkey, or something else soon. Hmm, gonna need some real butter. Gonna need to check on cranberry sauce or get fresh berries when the store has them, which was a much smaller window last year. I ordered mincemeat (fruit) in late October, so I’m good there, just will need to get a couple of pie crusts. Likely, there’ll be a pumpkin pie, store-bought. Beyond that, not sure yet, but I won’t need too much more to make me feel like it’s the holidays.
I do not expect to get a tree and put it up. I haven’t done that since Grandmother’s been gone. Just me and Goober anyway. If I decide to strain a point, I might get a really small tree to set on a table, but I doubt I will.
The laundry backlog is done, just waiting on things to dry now, and then check if anything’s soured and needs to be rewashed and retried. Yippee! On to other things. This place just might get into some semblance of order and human habitation by year-end. It’s a goal. I have also told myself not to be too mad at myself if I don’t quite reach that, but I hope to.
Hard to believe there’s just two months left in this year. I hope 2020 will be better.
You know, you could pull all of your Curry posts and edit them into a story. OK, maybe a childrens’ story, but still a story. Maybe ‘Curry rescues the two-legger?
Heh, I thnk Curry’s idea of a rescue would be to get me (and Goober) to live Outside, Outside! And I suspect he goes for the piratical ideals of fighting, wenching, and plundering, in something like that order. (Laughs.) I woke up today thinking how he’s “El Gato Lobo,” a lone-wolf sort of cat, not wanting human company as much as he perhaps thought; at least, not wanting to be stuck inside, although human company might be semi-tolerable sometimes, and regular food and water just fine always.
Last night, after I was finally in bed the first time, I heard a single screech, which sounded like a reaction in a fight. “Oh, for pity’s sake,” I said, or something like that. (Oh, it was PG enough, not cussing that time.) I got up, threw on sweatpants (didn’t think I should check the door in undershorts, just in case, y’know) and hmm, no, no cat anywhere to be seen. I called briefly. No results. So I’m not entirely sure it was him or wanting in, but I missed it, whatever it was. He hasn’t been meowing at the door to be fed or let in, if he has come around. I think he may be patrolling around, but he might be thinking, hah, I’m not gonna meow there unless I have to, he might keep me prisoner in there again. (The run of the apartment being feral cat prison.)
So, 5 days now since I last actually saw him, but possibly hearing him from time to time each day. Inconclusive. Only twice was I less than enthused about answering right away, and yes, that’s because I was ticked at him. But other than that, I’ve tried to be aware in case he does come around. I’d hope if I see him again, it’s still whatever passes for adamantly feral tomcat cordial. Heh. The last three nights or so, the local younger kids (elementary and shorter) have been pretty wild, playing. (One kid, probably a boy, found a pipe or something and was banging it against anything metal to hear the noise and make a fuss, vent aggression, I think. Another night, one kid was in trouble with his/her playmates for risky climbing on stairs, etc., and tossing rocks or something like that. I know this because they were near my stairs and others, front and back. One older boy finally told the kid off, and the next night, a mom or aunt told the kid or kids to act right or she’d make them go in. Heh. That had a surprisingly positive effect. (The kid with the pipe was getting aggressive enough, I considered whether I might need to go outside, fuss at him, and have him take me to his mama. I decided I might not be above doing that, if really needed.
The upshot being, around sundown, it’s been so active with the littler kids that any stray cats are probably safely in their hiding places until the coast is clear, then prowling.
My cell phone is still acting up periodically, and I think I’m going to have to replace it. I think I’ve lost track of my account number, so I’ll have to do a “forgot my password” or something similar to get access. The blankety-blank phone is less than 2-1/2 years old. I know in computer terms, that’s ancient, but hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it; I haven’t needed a newer one until now. And it feels like artificially forced obsolescence.
No repair and replacement yet, but soon, I hope.
I have been wondering what the human equivalent to Curry’s actions and viewpoint is, but I’m not sure I know. His kitty self and attitude might make it into a story, but I’m not yet quite settled with it personally to have perspective, so, so far, nothing story-wise. Maybe, though. It seems like story material for someone. (Probably many someones, you could do all sorts of things with the basic premise and plot line, character arc.)
Goober’s reaction? Oh, he has been luxuriating in having me all to himself, haha. Wanting extra attention and reassurance, probably to soothe any worries as to why I’d put another cat out, if he sees it that way, or else he’s glad the other guy’s gone. (He’s not above that, even as non-assertive as he is, lol.) He’s known I’ve been down about it and then trying to put it behind me, so I think he’s trying to cheer me up and remind me I still have him, which, oh, I’m very thankful for. He’s been sleeping with me again, plus sleeping on my arm if I’m at the computer.
I found the old font source format (.fog files) mostly reads into the new program, but not everything imports, specifically at least the “background” and “guides” layers, where you can put guidelines, construction shapes, bitmap images of letters, and so on. Aggravating, but I’ll have to go with this, unless they eventually do upgrade the old program, which it looks like they don’t intend to ever do.
Getting ready to have another cold snap here, projected next week. Other than that, nothin’ special, just same-old, same-old.