Saturday, February 16, 2013

I gave my cat a bath the other day ... they love it. He sat there, he enjoyed it, it was fun for me. The fur would stick to my tongue, but other than that . . . Steve Martin


It’s time to get back to Taz’s blog.  I’ve been away from it since Thanksgiving, but I’ve kept some notes to catch up.

We thought we might be able to get away for a few days in December to go up to Monterey.  The weather was bad down here, rainy and cold, but worse up there, so we decided to postpone the trip until Spring. 

There is a State park, Forest of Nisene Marks, north of Monterey which we like a lot.  We try to visit the park whenever we are in the Monterey area.  The last time we were there, December 2011, it had been raining quite a bit and the trails were too muddy to hike on, so we didn’t go there on that trip.

There are beautiful Redwood trees and ferns along the trails.  When we lived closer, in Monterey, we went to the park at least once a month or so and never got tired of it.

Dogs are not allowed on the trails though.  On a visit one time, we took Chelsi there and someone told us that a ranger was on the trail turning people back if they had a dog with them.  It’s a shame that dogs can’t hike with their owners in most of the parks here.  We always kept Chelsi on a leash, even though she didn’t need it.  She was not like Sheila, who, unleashed would take off for parts unknown and we’d never see her again!

Mr. Creme had a fructosamine test a few weeks ago and his blood glucose was well within a good range.  Unless we notice his appetite failing or a weight loss, he won’t have to have another test for 3 or 4 months.  He is stable at 6 units/day insulin (3 a.m./3 p.m.).

The B12 pills he takes for his weakened legs have helped so much.  He walks normally now.  He is also able to jump up to his table which has his bed on it with no trouble.

Lexi is doing well on her antihistamine allergy pills.  I give her ½ in the morning and ½ at night.  She seems to be less congested, although she still sneezes some.  I think she does feel better though.  We had some cold nights and since she sleeps on the enclosed patio, I have a little radiating heater which I keep on low at night.

We’re letting the cats outside into the backyard almost every day now.  They are staying in the yard too.  Not long after we put the lattice on top of the fence, Jonesie figured a way to escape.  He jumped up onto the gate and climbed over the lattice and into the front yard.  We managed to fix the problem.  Charlie bought some shade cloth from Home Depot and covered both gates.  I’m not sure why it works, but the cats don’t go to the gate anymore.

I like to let the cats outside in the yard, but I couldn’t do it if they were not going to be safe.  The birds have to be safe too.  Jonesie not only likes to watch birds, he will stalk and catch them when he can.  I usually put a box lid over the bird bath to keep the birds from trying to drink or bathe while Jonesie is out.  I moved the feeders up higher and so far he has had no luck catching a bird.  I know it’s a natural instinct that cats hunt and if Jonesie catches a bird, he is not punished.  We just feel bad for the poor little bird and try to make it hard for Jonesie to catch another one.

We had solar panels installed on our house a week ago.  They have not been activated yet.  Everything is in place, but the electric company needs to complete paperwork and we won’t have energy going until next week sometime.   

Installation took three days.  The first day, our electricity was off for 7 hours so they could upgrade our electrical panel.  The next day they started installing the panels on top of the house.  It was very noisy.  Mr. Creme and Debby were in the garage in a 4x4 kennel to keep them out of the way.  The garage door was open part of the day.  The cats in the house stayed hidden because of the noise on the roof.  On the last day, they had to finish the rest of the panels and do the hookups.  It was supposed to rain that day, so the guys arrived early, 7:00 a.m. to try to get ahead of the rain if they could.

I left for work at 9:00 a.m. and it was pouring rain.  The guys were still on the roof working away.  As I drove away, I looked up at the panels and thought how ironic it was.  Solar panels being installed on a dark, cloudy, rainy morning.  I sure hope they start paying for themselves soon.

More later....
TazzyD.... _^..^_

Me and Taz