Friday, January 25, 2013

Marlene is injured

Greetings furiends! 9 here with an update. On the one paw, we are pleased that Mom got to work from home for 2 days this week. On the other paw, we are sad that she is hurt and gets a little testy when we want to sit on her feet (9 and Sheamus Popoki in particular)

Wondering what we are talking about? Well, here you go.

Here is what Mom's foot looked like Tuesday night.

You see, on Tuesday morning, Mom displayed her typical lack of grace (I mean seriously, humans are typically not graceful but Mom took the cake on this one). You see, as Mom left her car and crossed a road to get to her morning commuter train, she happened to NOT avoid a little pothole/divot in the road that she usually avoids. BOOM! Left ankle twisted, right knee scraped up.


She contemplated not going to work as she tried to rush out of the way of more commuters in their cars coming to the train station to park. But then decided that she would try to walk off the injury.

Usually, she can, but this time it was pretty bad and she spent most of the hour long train ride trying not to cry while taking deep breaths. Fortunately, she sort of napped (showing that she can learn something from us cats) and wasn't in too much pain on that ride. And then, she went to work, walked from the train station to the office (about a mile long walk). AND could not walk the injury off. Ouch ouch ouch...

Now, Mom is usually pretty smart, but this time, she displayed a remarkable lack of common sense. Silly Mom.

So, at night, Grandpa and Grandma came over and took Mom to the minor injury clinic. There,she got her foot x-rayed (no breaks or fractures, hooray!), her right knee cleaned up, her left ankle wrapped up and some new crutches

Here is a photo of how her ankle looked Wednesday night.
Lovely swollen toes with that swollen ankle, yes? You can see why she kept 'kicking' me off of her foot and the pillow on which her foot was propped.

And here is her foot last night. It looks a lot better!
Mom worked from home on Wednesday which made us happy. She went into the office yesterday but once again worked from home today. Thankfully, her art director let her work from home (the company is moving offices today so everyone is working for half a day in the office and half the day at home) and he didn't want her to waste time commuting and walking from the train station to the office for only half a day. This way, she can get a lot more work done. Oh, and Mom doesn't know the bus schedule or system plus she hates buses, so she would rather walk instead of take the bus to the office. AND she really dislikes crutches. They slow her down too much, she says. We know this is the point and that she needs the support, but Mom is stubborn.

Her ankle is much less swollen, but is a bit more achy today than it was before. Oh, and she can now see a bruise on the side of her foot.

At any rate, we are happy to have her home with us, and we are doing our best to help her heal. Wishing you all a happy and safe and healthy weekend!

Monday, January 21, 2013

Sheamus Popoki checks out

On Saturday, Sheamus Popoki visited the VET and I was rather bad at taking photos. On the plus side, Sheamus was a very good boy even though I had to hold the carrier vertically to get him out of it. He tried to find a hiding spot, but alas, there was none to be found. I picked him up and that sort of comforted him.

Sheamus now weighs 11.2 lbs or so. I thought he'd be much heavier as he feels much bigger and he is so much longer than 9. Still, he has gained 3 lbs since last year (he's filled out) and made nary a sound when he got his shots. And he didn't even react when he got his temperature taken. My poor boy.

Honestly, I think he (and Chani) has flashbacks whenever I put them into their carriers. I'm sure that they are convinced that I am taking them to an adoption fair which stressed them out a lot when they were younger, no doubt. However, I made sure to reassure him and give him treats when he came home.


The stress in my life is far too much for this kitty. I must rest. And hmmm... why is this Adobe box sitting here? Mom, are you being remiss in installing the new CS6 creative suite? Seriously, first you do not post enough on our blog. Second, you do not take enough photos of us with the good flashy box thing, only your phone and third, you do not install software that you bought last year. Bad Mommy!



Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Becky update, a New Friend and Synchronized stretching

Becky is getting to be such a big girl! She is smart and sweet and well, just not a puppy any more. She's quite the teenager now.

 This is Tocho which means "tiger" (I can't remember which language). I helped rescue this kitty many years ago when she was about 2 months old. She was separated from her momma way too early and there was some evidence that she was abused (whiskers were burnt) by her original "owners" who were homeless people and from what I have heard more than a little cracked out. She was 'rescued' by another homeless person who was slightly less cracked out at the time and who gave her to a friend of mine. My friend could not keep another kitty so when I found out, I called another friend, Mr. J who had just lost his family cat. He accepted Tocho provisionally, saying that his wife had to approve of all this. However, as soon as I presented Tocho to him, he took her from me and I never got to hold her for the rest of the visit. Tocho was his. She sat on him and purred and basically claimed him.


Mr. J's wife, Ms. L, named the kitten, Tocho, in order to somewhat balance the horrible start in life that she had. You know, give the kitty a strong, fierce, powerful name and she will become strong and fierce and powerful. 

Well, it sort of worked. Tocho is usually pretty sweet to Mr. J, though she is scared when they have too many people visiting and will hide under the bed covers (where I took these photos). And, every now and then, she gets the crazy look in her eye and all hands and other exposed body parts have to be hidden from Tocho's teeth and claws. I hope Ms. L forgives me one day for this. I think she has as I do still get invited to parties and she talks to me hehe.

At any rate, Tocho loves her daddy and although she barely tolerates anyone else, she does tolerate me as I did get to pet her. I like to think she remembers me in a tiny part of her mind/heart.

Finally, a photo of 9 and Chani as they woke up from their nap upon Mr. Crab. It was almost dinner time and they needed to fully rest up before eating. Right?

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Visiting with Kazi and a new painting.


Yesterday, I visited a friend who is helping me set up a website for my paintings. The added benefit is that I got to see Kazi, short for "Kamikaze". I adore this guy. I think it's his big blue eyes. I used to cheat on Q who came before with this kitty. And I continue to cheat on my cats with him too.

And I started the background of the Om kitty based on 9. I was thinking of giving him a black background, but then his tail would be hard to see. So I went with a dark blue. Can't wait to get started on this one AND on Chani's burnt orange background.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Snuggle time!

Last night, 9 was being adorable and was on the verge of crazy pants behavior. To head it off (because it usually means that Chani will be running away from while growling and hissing), I decided it was snuggle time with 9.



If only you could hear his purring here.


Sheamus Popoki had to check it out, but decided he wanted no part of it and left.


So, 9 got lots of loving.



Saturday, January 5, 2013

First painting of the New Year

 

Sheamus Popoki checks out the latest Om Kitty painting. He was the model for this particular painting.

I've sold out of all my previous cards (Blue, Pink and Purple) and I've had to reorder more.


Oh! And I ordered cards of the Loki cat and an angel that I painted for a friend.

And I remembered something I created for work ages ago that we never used. So, I asked and I'm allowed to use them for my own personal use now. Hooray!

Yes, cats in hats, based on the cats in hats that was so popular years ago. I'm not sure what kind of stationary I'll make out of these... any ideas out there in blog land?
 
At any rate, I hope to set up a website for all my illustrations tomorrow. We'll see if I can get to it. Lots to do tomorrow, including yoga and the opening of the latest wood soda kiln.

Hope you enjoy this!

Thursday, January 3, 2013

The Boys together



Happy New Year!

The boys sure are cute together, especially when Sheamus sits right next to 9.
 

There are times though, when Sheamus Popoki's floofy tail does kind of bother 9 teehee.

But they eventually settle down to sleep.

Or keep watch on me.