The Pool, the Camera, the Cats, & the Book

Since the weather has been warm enough to open the backyard pool (the house my husband bought has a 24' aboveground) I've been able to go out and exercise in it.  We-ell, once I was cleared to walk that far, get into water, the stairs had been put in... anyway.  First I get dressed for the pool, this includes putting on SPF 4000 sunscreen because I have very fair skin.  It doesn't tan, it burns.  If you look at me wrong, I burn.  Not, I'll admit, as much as when I was a teenager (my nearly eep! 17 yo daughter didn't reapply two days in a row and looked liked a boiled lobster ::shudder::) but still.  I take my towel, my hat, my reading glasses, my sunglasses, and my book.  I do my very best to remember to bring my camera.  In just a minute (unless of course, you have skipped this entirely and just scrolled down to look at the pictures... shame on you!) you'll see pictures of Da Boys taken out in the pool/patio area.

Now, the other day I was out there exercising.  Mind you, I am now the Bionic Woman.  Okay, not really this time since it's just two knees.  What I do is to put an inflatable round float over my head (I don't want to sit in it! I need to walk!) and then I can set my elbows on the sides and prop my book in the center of the third side.  Then I start walking.  First one way, then another way, then I change my style of walking... yada yada yada.  Normally, if I have the camera, I might be able to get a shot or two.  So what happened the other day?  Zaphy was inside laying on Dale's pillows and sleeping.  First, Thomas lept casually onto the top of the ramp.

"Hi mom!  Don't I look elegant?"  Hmmmm, yes you do Tom, now if you'll just stay there while mom gets her... POOHBEARS!!  No camera.  Whereupon Star and Mister Kitten lept up onto the ramp and proceeded to join Thomas in displaying the most wonderful (and aggrevating at the time) poses whilst I exercised, read my book, and did my very best to admire them without kicking myself.  Today, I had my camera, my hat, my phone, my book, and so on and so on... blah blah blah... but nary a cat was seen in sight.  We-ell.... .until I got back inside. 

 Thomas on deck!

"I told you!  I'm not going to blow up that inflatable!"

Thomas making an inspection on the deck.

I admit it.  I am a book addict.  Primarily SF/F... Honor Harrington series by David Weber has an interesting race called Treecats.  If you like SF... particularly hard SF with tech (this is C.S. Forester in space) with an amazing female protagonist... this series rocks & rolls!  And if you're a reader?  It doesn't hurt that there are ~20 books in the series.

[link is to my CafePress store section of the above graphic]

PS I'll post a Zaphy update sometime Sunday afternoon if at all possible.

Quick Update, Mister Kitten, and a Soapbox

We've got a call in to Da Boy's vet because this morning before he'd eaten, Zaphoid threw up a dark green hairball.  Now it could be dark green because of greenies but it also means that he's not digesting things as well as he should.  We'll see what the vet says.  I trust these vets, I've known the practice for over 20 years.  They're not only intelligent but the type of vets to get out of bed at midnight and go open up the office to try to save my friend's Queen who'd just delivered a litter.  She turned out to have kidney failure, not picked up because of her normal lethargy during pregnancy.  He spent the entire night and part of the morning trying to save her.  Fortunately for the litter, my friend had another Queen at home who'd delivered about four weeks beforehand.  She loathed me trying to get her to take the litter but finally accepted it.  (That was the one thing that really ticked me off about this friend.  She  had a number of cats but wouldn't get them neutered or spayed on the grounds that it was "too expensive".  Funny, all of mine were!  I took one of the kittens from the litter, Quigley the Demon Dust Bunny Hunter)

Anyway, I got some nice face shots of Mister Kitten this week.  Oh, and while I was doing my water exercises yesterday, I forgot to take my camera.  Naturally, Thomas, Star, & Mister Kitten came out and posed like there was no tomorrow!!!

Just a reminder...

This is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde's creedo.   Each one has been a rescue or shelter cat.  Each one has been spayed or neutered.  There are too many feral cats and other litters being born.  Help reduce over-population!  This links to the same graphic on things in the CafePress store if you're interested.  Mugs, stickers (all of the stickers can be used as bumper stickers), sigg bottles, cards, buttons, magnets (shirts are in another section).  Yeah, I'm trying to make a wee bit of money on each one (~.50-$2.00 depending on base price) but the quality is excellent.  I'm wearing one of the shirts now.  My daughter has a sigg bottle, my mom bought Christmas cards, I got ornaments.  All of them looked even better than I expected.  And they've  got a return policy.  Sorry, I tend to run on when I'm nervous.  And Zaphy's got me nervous today.

Ups & Downs - Zaphoid pics

I woke up this morning about ten minutes before I needed to get ready to leave for a doctor's appointment in the Big City about 45 minutes away.  I did my Navy dress (Navy brat & Girl Scout, I can get ready in about 5-10 minutes from sound asleep and includes brushing my teeth & taking a gazillion meds.  No, really!  I have to take a gazillion meds!  "They're not a gazillion, mom." notes Star.  Shhhhhhh I'm the one telling this story.  My ride showed up with his two children.  My son and I got into my van.  My & his two kids got into my van.  We took off to our bank whereupon my son duly withdrew $30.00 out of Mr. McScrooge's savings account (no, really!  He is quite generous to others but he always has money because he stashes it away like the good Scot that he is!  Star nods, "Now this is true!").

We drove off to the Big City and I was dropped off at my doctor's office.  My ride, his children, and my child went off to the used book, cd, cards, & comic store.  When I was finished they were waiting for me.  Everybody had gotten something.  Not surprisingly, my son still had over $8.00 left.  See?  Mr. McScrooge.  I'm telling you.  This was a kid who, at the age of 10, saved enough money via Christmas & birthday money to buy a griffon puppet from the Renaissance Faire (over $100).  At the age of 12 he took over $200 with him to a medieval reenactment event and bought a bow, arrows, odds & ends as gifts for others, and a pair of medieval period shoes (got a discount as well when they found out that he was using his own money!).

The down.  Zaphoid has been very vocal this week.  He's wanted a LOT of attention.  But he wouldn't let me anywhere near him to check him out.  He'd let me brush him.  He'd let me give him treats.  He'd let me love on him.  But nothing else.  As the week went on, I noticed that he was having a harder time eating treats.  He was swallowing them whole rather than chewing them.  ::closes eyes and breathes deep::  He's 12 years old.  His mother was a feral cat and we have no idea what kind of nutrition she had while he was developing.  I've done my best to feed him & the rest of the Horde Science Diet, the special Lamb diet (when Samantha became allergic to chicken, beef, & seafood), and Iams except for the really lean times when I just couldn't afford it.

Last night Dale and managed to get him between us.  We petted and cooed at him and he finally, finally, finally let me look at his mouth.  His back teeth are gone.  I have two sample cans of gooshy food.  Jen gave him a bit as a treat about two hours ago.  He's still eating the dry food and drinking water and we're putting out dry with water mixed in it but he really doesn't care.  Do you know that attitude that elderly people sometimes get?  I remember my grandfather getting it the day he turned his head to the wall.  Quigley the day he went into my floor heated bathroom across from the kitty litter and wouldn't come out (he wouldn't eat either even though his teeth were fine) until he came to lay on my chest to cross the Bridge.  I don't want to lose Zaphy but my daughter Jen... Zaphy's mom seems to be... not accepting... but almost as if she's not worried.  She knows she'll break down and be sad... but it's the circle of life.