Goodbye Cinders

Today was the day you dread when you are lucky enough to have pets. I almost didn't adopt my first cat in 1990 because I know that a cat's life (all nine of them) is shorter than ours, and so we outlive them and have to deal with this. Cinders was fading quickly, as noted in yesterday's blog post, and today we decided it was time to put her out of her misery. While we often joked about her being either the "bitchy black cat" or the "bitch cat from hell" because she had an on/off switch, and if you were petting her and she was done or frightened, you could get mauled, there was also a good Cinders. The bad Cinders even bent a needle while getting a shot from a trained vet tech.

Here she was out front by our townhouse by the fall leaves. And on the balcony ledge.A favorite picture when she walked away from the cat bed and left her paper cone after surgery in early 2006.

On Will's busy desk. She really was the "home office cat".

And a favorite shot of Cinders taken a few years ago at the dinner table.

She used to go outside until we moved to our house. She lived a long life for being an outdoor cat most of her life.

And waiting for dinner with the late great Dave.
Poor kitty was always afraid of Mowry, who would love tormenting her. Here's an office cat fight.

A rare shot of Mowry, Cinders and Alex together in the sunroom.

Rainy Saturday

The light rain predicted for today is here. It's gray, cloudy and drizzly outside, but at least we got to go to two garage sales and the local flea market before the drizzles arrived. We met Diann at the flea market and enjoyed the walk around.

We bought the print to the left at a garage sale. The one in the middle was from a garage sale a few months ago! Closer....

We love retro - this is an old, closed bowling alley we pass from time to time, but I rarely have my camera handy.

We went to visit Kathryn. Her cat, Ouija, is adorable. He's Mowry with golden eyes.

And her dog, Harley, is a real nice dog. I believe she's a chow/lab mix.

How fun - I can climb up on top of the fridge.

A neighbor down the block posted Friday for 4 camelia bushes. Actually, he didn't know what they were, but he posted a picture and I recognized it immediately because we have two. I normally ignore "come and dig" posts, but it's not that big, and he helped, so I asked for one. We walked it home (it's across the street and about 6 houses down) with Will carrying the plant.
Then Will dug the hole to replant it. What a trooper. I know he hates this stuff, but he indulges me. He agreed that it looked great here. It's dark because it's dark and gray outside.

Bigger picture - it will get plenty of its desired shade under the branches of our neighbor's magnolia tree and our plum tree.

I still haven't found the lost, finished black knitted sock. I'm trying not to think about it, hoping it will show up somewhere. I decided to order sock yarn from Amazon using a gift cert I had before I lost the black sock, so I started a new one using the Trekking XXL in wine to help me forget about the lost black. It's coming out nice. You can't tell from this, but the leg part is knit 2, purl 2 for two rows, and then knit two rows, repeat, to give it a bumpy texture.

Cinders seems to be fading. She's at least 15, and probably older. She's been in the family longer than I have, and Will and Kathryn don't remember exactly when they got her. We know she has some kidney issues, and the past week or so, she doesn't move much, and now she really smells. I don't have the heart to put her down because she still comes into the office, and comes in to get some people food at dinner. She's the only one who does that. Alex has never been interested in people food, and he can't have any because of his special diet, and Mowry occasionally shows an interest if it's chicken. Cinders doesn't seem to be in pain, but she's really slowed down.

And speaking of kitties, Mowry just came up to check out the office winodw, but as cats do, he's already gone!

TGIF

Yesterday I was thinking, "It's Thursday already?", but today I'm thinking "Hooray, it's Friday!"



I'm in South SF today.


The sun is out, the sky is blue. It's 61 degrees, which is chilly for us, but for perspective, it's 38 in Durango, CO and that doesn't take into account "wind chill factor". This is a vintage postcard of Durango!
The Glen Park Bart Station is underground. It's very different than the one near home.

That's Mission Peak in the background at the Union City station.

This was before construction. It's a nightmare now!

It's supposed to rain tomorrow. On Saturday? I come from Southern California where it rarely rains on precious weekends.

I just happened to look at the web cam from the train station, and there was an Ace Train!

I wonder if the kitties are cuddling at home?

Our House and Other Things

Today is two years since we moved into our house! That was probably the worst day, as moving is never fun until it's done.

I remember our three cats in the back of the van, each in a carrier, one borrowed from Ken and Diann. They meowed the entire way, which was only about 2 miles, but that's a loud, long, two miles. They looked so funny that I wanted a picture, but when I sent Will inside the new house to get my camera, he couldn't find it. (It was on the kitchen counter, where I told him, but UNDER something. That's fodder for another blog post.) I didn't want to endure their meows and howling any longer, and didn't want them to suffer, of course, so we got them out of the car as quickly as possible sans pictures.

Alex walked around the house meowing for several days, often in the middle of the night. We think it was because of the scent left from having the wood floors refinished, but who knows. This is Alex we're talking about.

Here's a picture of happier times, all settled in. It was very cold yesterday morning. Our first frost of fall 2009 - mild, but frost on the roof across the street.

My parents went to see the taping of The Bonnie Hunt Show. We recorded it and watched. I figure if these people had their pictures on TV, and with modern technology I can record and photograph it, it's okay on a private blog. Can you see the parental units? Hint - Mom and Dad are in the back row.

I have a better picture that I emailed to them, but the audience members are way too clear and obvious on that one, so I won't post it!

I am a loser. Literally. I lose things. I brought knitting with me Tuesday night to dinner, and I didn't even open the plastic bag containing my finished black sock and my WIP black sock. I went to knit on it last night, and I cannot find the completed black sock. I called the restaurant at 9:30 pm, just as they were closing (although it sounded loud, so maybe they were still open) and had to ask if they found a black sock, and explain it was one that I had knitted and wasn't a dirty sock. They got a good laugh (more than they admitted to me - they told me they were laughing!) and told me they found a hat, but no sock. I have to call back this afternoon to find out if the owner found it and put it somewhere. He already found and rescued one of these gray double pointed needles a month or so ago.

The problem is that I'm always switching bags. Whether it's purse to backpack, purse to purse, knitting bag to knitting bag. I remember putting my small purse in the knitting bag (which is a bag I got at a conference - they work well for knitting bags, and I met a friend that way because she recognized the bag at a library event and started talking to me, and it turned out we had heard of each other....but I digress!!!!)... and maybe I dragged out the black sock when I picked up the purse and left the knitting bag when I got into line for the buffet, but who knows.

If it wasn't for Will and my kitties, I'd really be a loser. Time for a sanity check....Mow above me on his Crow's Nest with his tail and paw hanging down (if you couldn't figure that out!).

Election Day!

We often get low voter turnouts for
elections, but this one is expected to draw huge crowds. Many have voted early, so I'm counting on that to keep lines short at my polling place.

I don't care who you vote for, just VOTE!

OK, I lied. I do care who you vote for, but that's the beauty of America. You can believe what you want, vote for who you want, and make a difference. But please .....

One thing is for sure - AFTER TONIGHT WE WON'T HAVE TO LOOK AT ANY MORE SIGNS TELLING US WHO TO VOTE FOR (as if we're too stupid to figure out what we believe on our own), NO MORE PHONE CALLS "FROM CANDIDATES", AND NO MORE ANNOYING TELEVISION COMMERICALS!!!!! HOORAY!

Ah, the good old days - before chads, before red states and blue states, and frankly, before my time!

And what is KnitMareKnit without the obligatory (and always loved) cat pictures?

This was taken earlier this year. Cinders is petrified of Mowry, so this was a rare picture. Poor Cinders has slowed down a lot during the past few months.
And the most requested cat on the site, Mowry. Probably tired after watching all these annoying election commercials.

Wet Weekend

Friday was Halloween. We gave out candy until about 8 pm, and then walked two houses down to a birthday/Halloween party. We had a lot of candy left, but I'll take some into the office I'm going to on Monday.

The big bump toward the top of the picture is Mowry. He was hiding from the doorbell and trick or treaters.Earlier in the day he wasn't afraid of anything, including heights. He's standing on the printer where he's "King of the World".Once it got started after a few false starts, it rained most of Saturday. We need the rain, but not necessarily all in one day! My geraniums are growing out front. The left side looks like it "took", but the right side looks pathetic.There was water on the plants this morning.The water on the leaves of the white roses is pretty!There is even water on the lemons in the lemon tree next door.I bought this plant to replace the LARGE (but unproductive) tomato plant I took out this week. After it was planted.Today we went out into the sunroom. Mowry gave himself a bath...

while Alex was Alex - lounging on the treadmill.