Just Fiddle Faddle

Taz, trying to stay awake (not a chance)

Saturday when I went in the garage to let Mr. Crème and Toby outside, Mr. Crème was in his chair and Debby was on “Mr. Crème’s” table. Usually when I go out there, if Debby is away from her familiar kennel and cat tree area, she will run and hide. This time she stayed where she was. I walked past her and over to Mr. Crème. I usually pet him for a few minutes before he goes outside. He wanted more attention, so I picked him up and brought him over to the table and put him next to Debby. She remained there because she actually likes Mr. Crème. He kind of ignores her, but he doesn’t dislike her.

I started petting both of them. Debby just loves to be petted. She was rubbing against Mr. Crème and he liked that because he knows that I usually give Debby a treat and he knows he’ll get one too. I did give them treats.

This was the first time that Debby didn’t run away. We’re gradually giving her more space to roam. She has the whole garage. The only time I have to put her in her kennel is when I have to open the garage door to the driveway. I always check to make sure she’s in her cat tree before doing that. Then I close the kennel door.

We will have had Debby two years in May. She’s really a sweet little cat. She doesn’t bother any of the other cats. We allow all of the “house” cats go into the garage where she is. Jonesie was a little afraid of her when he first saw her, but he’s okay with her now. This morning I found him at the top of Debby’s cat tree.

Sometimes when Mr. Crème is in the yard, (he sprays, so he’s not allowed in the house) I leave the door from the house to the garage open. As far as I know, Debby has never attempted to come into the house. I wouldn’t mind if she did. We’re still hoping that one day we’ll be able to pick her up. She will only allow petting for now. For a feral cat, she had come a long way.

The weather was really nice on Sunday. I was sitting out on the patio reading a magazine. I had shorts on and although it was fairly warm, I like to have a blanket over my legs. Lexi, her brother, Mr. Crème, and their mother, Jezibel were in the yard. First, Lexi, our long haired Calico, came over and got on my lap. I petted her for a few minutes and she moved to curl up next to me. Then Mr. Crème came up on my lap. I put my magazine down and started to pet Mr. Crème, occasionally touching Lexi.

Lexi finally realized that Mr. Crème was sitting near her and she couldn’t take that. Abruptly, she got off of the glider and strutted out into the yard to check out the “bird tree”. With her long hair, she looks bigger than she is, but she weighs about 12 pounds, so it’s not all fur.

There I sat with Mr. Crème on my lap, “Taz’s blanket” covering my legs, thinking how ironic it was that I’m out there in the same place that Taz and I sat so many times before. No other cat would have been allowed up on the glider with us, much less on my lap. Taz and Mr. Crème disliked each other immensely. We had to keep them apart. If Mr. Crème was outside, Taz had to stay in until Mr. Crème went inside.

That glider was where I could always find Taz. In the afternoons, even in the summers, when it got just a bit cooler, I would take his blanket out to him. He would sit up when he saw me coming with the blanket. I covered him and I could tell that underneath he was “making biscuits”. Then he settled down and went to sleep. I know he got some of his best sleep out there under that blanket. He would have loved this warm day.

Life is still going on around here. It’s not quite back to “normal”. I still miss Taz more than I ever thought I could miss a pet. He’s been gone for five months now and as for how I feel, it could have been yesterday.

As of today, we’re planning an RV vacation in May. Even with the high gas prices, we feel like we should do this. The last time we took this kind of vacation was in July 2009.

We drove to the east coast. Our dog, Sheila, our twins, Jason and Kaci, and of course, Taz, came alone with us. We really enjoyed it. They’re actually pretty good travelers.

This time, we will have Sheila, Jason and Kaci, and our newest family member, Jonesie. We don’t know how Jonesie will do yet. There’s not much time to prepare him, but we are going to try to take the RV out somewhere for the day and maybe overnight to see how Little Jones handles the ride.

Oh, and we will be going to my school reunion in NC on May 20 and 21. I have never attended one and neither has Charlie. Years ago I went to a school reunion with a date. Talk about BORING! But, I think Charlie is looking forward to seeing some of my old (did I say OLD?) classmates. He’s even wondering what kind of music the DJ will be playing. Why, Beach Music, of course!

More later……..