Late summer in small town Virginia

We've had an amazingly hot and dry summer this year. I think we had the hottest and driest June on record, quite a counterpoint to the snowy and cold winter! I believe we had something like 40 days in a row of above-90 degrees temperature. Thankfully, i have central air conditioning...i got it years ago because Lesley had feline asthma and her vet said she'd be much better off if the windows could be kept closed--and the only way it would be bearable to have the windows closed would be to have air conditioning. The cats have been feeling warm but pretty comfortable.

Fuzzy laying on the 3rd desk's book shelf, keeping me company while i telecommute

Sylvie checcking out Farmers Market bounty: peppers, Napa cabbage, corn, 2 different mixes of cherry tomatoes, new potatoes (in bag), radishes

Sylvie staking out my desk chair, which the cats have pretty thoroughly trashed. Why buy a new one if that'll get all shredded, too?

Louie snuggled into his "Hairy Blankie"

Gingy relazing on the kitchen doormat (yes, she's the one who has peed repeatedly on the back door)

Another fine part of summer here is my town's tradition of offering outdoor concerts every Saturday evening in a joint partnership with Bluemont Concerts. The musicians set up on the sidewalk across the street and everyone sets up blankets and lawn chairs on the lawn of the Warren Green building, a Civil War era building that now houses some County offices, next to the County courthouse complex. It's wonderful listening to all kinds of great musicians in such a family-friendly atmosphere. Different community groups provide the refreshments each week and get to keep the proceeds...it's like having a bake sale with a musical accompaniment!

Last week my quilt group provided the refreshments. We lucked out...it was a gorgeous clear warm evening, not dreadfully hot and humid as so many other Saturday nights had been, and the music was fantastic--the Martinsburg Jazz Orchestra, a group of about 8 guys (from an ensemble of 16) playing swing and big band music.

Here's what it looked like from the back of the crowd, as the lights just started coming on.

Martinsburg Jazz Orchestra entertains as night falls

One thing that doesn't show in the picture are the bats and swallows flittering around overhead catching the bugs who are attracted to the lights.

Here are two of my friends from the quilt group with our table of goodies. In addition to the usual homemade cookies and brownies, bottled water, iced tea, and lemonade, we also had trail mix, pretzels, homemade caramel corn, spiced nuts and spicy popcorn both custom made by one of the group, and a peck of peaches picked that very day by a member who hadn't had time to bake. By the end of the evening we only had a few peaches and a few bags of trail mix and cookies left...a very successful evening for us. And so much fun, too!

Quilters and goodies for sale at the Bluemont concert

Sylvie's Turn

Sylvie is a very opinionated and feisty little girl cat. Unfortunately, since Gingy came to live with us, she hasn't been able to spend as much time with me as she used to, because if Gingy is nearby, Sylvie gives her a wide berth or growls and hisses at her. Sylvie now cautiously checks to make sure Gingy's not around or asleep before she starts cruisin' the house, and if she hears Gingy's bell (i generally don't like bells on cats, but Gingy came with one on her collar and it seemed like a fair warning to the other cats to keep it), she dashes for the kitchen chair that's her sanctuary.

Here Sylvie's sitting on the file box they all like to sit on before hopping up onto my lap...looking very sweet but actually she sank her claws into my thigh moments later "just stretching!"

The Boogie Mat Matter

I had stopped at Petco on Friday night to see if i could get another Boogie Mat for a certain sweet cat whose bruvfur won't share with him and they actually had two in stock. My quilt group will be making items to sell at a craft fair in November and i thought some sort of "cat mats" might be a good item to sell, so i bought one Boogie Mat for my guys, which i figure they can enjoy and i can reverse engineer!

Sylvie smelled the catnip and kept looking up at the table and meowing to let me know it was there and she wanted it. Finally on Sunday evening i put the mat on the nest box in front of the fridge and Sylvie instantly appeared and took it over. She rolled on it, she chomped on it, she licked it...she was loving it!

And then her dear sweet "brother" Louie appeared. Louie leaned in close to Sylvie, he squeezed between her and the fridge, he started vigorously washing her ears, all the way wedging himself onto the mat! Finally she gave him an annoyed chomp on the ears and left...leaving the mat to Louie!

They've been pretty good sports about taking turns...but mostly it seems that Sylvie claims it and then Louie "steals" it. Interestingly, neither Gingy nor Fuzzy has tried it yet, but then again, neither of them have been that interested in this nest box before either...

Bunch o' Kitty Pics

These are from last Friday (telecommuting with cats as usual!) and Saturday. I was getting ready to go on a trip, so tried to give the kitties as much snuggling time as possible while still getting ready.

Here's Sylvie in the hammock nest in the study. It's exclusively hers now and she's loving it!

Then there's the requisite shot of Louie and Fuzzy snuggling together:

Because Gingy was sound asleep in her bed in the basement, Sylvie got some rare computer-lap time, which she took full advantage of. Here she's getting scritches:

Oh, and here's "the tail"...bearing an unfortunate resemblance to an opossum's tail since the fur is still growing back, but it's definitely all healed up now.

Saturday night i heard some weird scratching noises in the living room and went to investigate--Sylvie had leaped into a box and was making herself comfortable (and invisible).

All was quiet on the Gingy front on Saturday night because she discovered a new favorite nest. This probably started off life as a big dog kennel. My vet at the time loaned it to me when i first "caught" Louie for him to stay in over a weekend until i could bring him in for tests and neutering. I "caught" his brother a week later and this was his temporary quarters overnight. I asked the vet if she wanted the kennel back, and she said no hurry...and about 5 years later she just left town unannounced, so now i've got the kennel and it's in the basement as a sort of run-in shed for whichever kitty wants to use it. Both Fuzzy and Gingy like it because they can feel comfortable and secure while keeping on eye on me while i do stamping stuff.

What a Difference a Few Days Make

Monday this week i didn't go to work. When i got up before 5 a.m., it was snowing very heavily. We hadn't had anywhere near the 4 to 10 inches they had predicted, but it seemed possible that it could easily end up being that much snow, or more. (I can hear the kitties in Maine and Canada and Connecticut snickering about this insignificant amount of snow.) I really could have made it to the bus...but i didn't relish getting stuck in the city if the bus couldn't make it back to pick me up...so i called in for a day of unscheduled leave.

Instead of going back to bed, i stayed up and had a really really productive day. I did some seriously overdue straightening in my sewing room. One of the things i found was the stash of patterns i acquired on my trip to Alaska in 2002. I hadn't really wanted to buy fabric since it takes up so much room, and besides, most places had the same fabric i could get back home. However, i was able to get some great patterns by local designers or with Alaska themes. One shop in Skagway even had very clever little kits that included everything a quilter on a cruise ship might need to make a little quilted something, if she were silly enough to be traveling without her own handwork. (Front row, right hand side, next to the little felt pieces with Native American beading designs on them).

And then i made our March exchange block. Here's Sylvie helpfully pointing out the center of the block:.

Late in the afternoon, the snow stopped and i went out to shovel, even though the wind was whipping and it was barely 20 degrees out there, not counting the wind chill factor. I guess we had about 4 inches total. On the far side of the patio i saw something purple in the snow...a little clump of crocuses bravely poking up through the snow! The wind had blown a lot of the snow away from them, plus it looks like they were generating enough heat (like skunk cabbages do) to melt the snow around themselves a little.

Tuesday it was back to work. It was still just barely in the 20s. It got progressively warmer all week, yesterday it stayed above freezing, and today it got up to 65 and look what the same clump of crocuses was doing! And tonight when i went in to town, i heard choruses of spring peepers! What a difference a few days make!

The Tale of Sylvie's Tail

Poor Sylvie. She and Gingy have not gotten along for as long as Gingy has lived here (2 1/2 years). Each thinks she should be queen, and neither is willing to yield. Sylvie growls and hisses whenever she sees Gingy; sometimes Gingy is just peacefully walking by on her way to get a drink of water, but other times, she pounces at Sylvie. A couple of months ago, Sylvie had an injury on her tail, and while i suspected that it was Gingy's fault, it was a single puncture on top of the base of Sylvie's tail and it was possible that she could have gotten snagged on a nail or something sticking out somewhere. I had to take Sylvie in to the vet to get the wound cleaned and antibiotics prescribed.

A few weeks ago Sylvie had another tail injury but i was able to clean the wound (despite much yelling from Sylvie) and it started healing by itself. And then two weeks ago, early on a busy Saturday morning, i heard the cat girls yelling and screaming in the basement so i ran down to break it up. Sylvie was crouched on a carpet remnant in her typical defensive posture...laying partially on her side, ears back and eyes slitted, and tail arched on the ground behind her. Gingy was hiding behind a box. Sylvie quickly ran upstairs. She had one puncture wound on top of her tail that was dripping blood and two more underneath her tail. This is the one on top (after it stopped bleeding.)I probably should have taken her to the vet right then but was so busy all weekend...and hoped my first aid treatment would be enough.

I tried keeping the wounds clean, but by the end of the week, one of the under tail ones was looking puffy and the tail was still very sensitive to the touch. I got a Saturday appointment for Sylvie. Her doctor shaved the fur off the top and bottom of her tail, gave her a penicillin shot, put her on a strong dose of Clavamox, and said that if it wasn't looking better by Monday, to bring her in first thing so they could open up the puffy wound and put in a surgical drain if need be.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what had to be done. I dropped Sylvie off at the vet's as soon as they opened, and picked her up on my way home from work. Here's the poor little tail with drain in place (don't biggify the picture if you're at all squeamish!).

As ugly as it looks, it was 100% effective. The infection cleared up right away. I took Sylvie in on Thursday morning, and the vet removed the drain, and that was that. Now....if only i keep this from happening again!!

(By the way, Cliff has started a tail chaser's club for kitties who chase their tails. Sylvie used to be a tail chaser much more when she was younger...she'd get up on a kitchen chair and circle around rapidly chasing her tail with quite a thumpa thumpa thumpa. Gingy's specialty is to chase her tail in the tub...she gets in the empty tub and uses the tub's contours to help bring her floofy tail closer!)

It's Feline Art!

I learned something wonderful from Goldie and Banshee today, two great cats who live in the woods in Canada. When Fuzzy puts his ears back and tears up a cardboard box, he's not being naughty or displaying displaced aggression...no...he's using it as a muse for his creative impulses! Here's the artist in the process of creating. That's a box full of wonderful goodies from my fellow quilter and kitty lover Betsy. I still need to send her a thank you note (aargh) which is why i left the box out...and now almost every evening Fuzzy works at sculpting it. Here's what his sculpture currently looks like:

Then there are the low cardboard trays that cases of cat food come on. Louie loves sitting on them, carefully flattening the rims down and then sculpting the edges. Just like Goldie, Shade, and Banshee's mom, i'm not thrilled about constantly having to sweep up the shreds of cardboard they remove, one little feline mouthful at a time. Here's Louie's latest creation in a favorite warm spot next to the refrigerator, being used by Sylvie. It's so nice to know that my cats are being artistic, not destructive...and apparently they have a lot of company out there!