SpeedKitty

Cat and Dog

Suddenly we're a week deep in July! How did that happen? I love summer, and it always passes way too quickly.

For the second year in a row, Jack and I have ended up adding to our family, and once again, the new addition is of the cat variety. And yellow.

Meet Little Omar.

Jack and I had stopped at the grocery store on the way home from a visit with Mom and Dad, and since we had Dudley with us, I waited in the car while Jack shopped for the few items we needed. Several minutes after Jack left the car, I heard a loud cry and then another, and the sounds seemed to be coming from the car itself. I got out for a quick check to see what was making the noise, and there on the front passenger-side tire was this itty-bitty kitty. He hissed and howled and struck at me with his claws, but I grabbed him before he could scurry further into the car or escape to more danger in the parking lot.

He was panting, and the fur on his chest was wet from his saliva. Dudley stared from him to me and back again - he knew immediately that the baby was going home with us, and quickly warmed up to the idea, comforting the little guy and gently grooming him.

Jack loves kittens every bit as much as I do and immediately agreed that our only option was to bring the little thing home with us.

Despite his tiny size, he munched-down on some crunchy food and made several trips to the water bowl. Within a couple of hours, he'd figured out how the litter box works and started the process of making friends with the dogs and other cats.

"The Cubs," Bill and Kinky, who celebrated their one year anniversary with us on June 30th, were initially a bit hissy and territorial, but they quickly realized that the kid is a fun, new playmate and initiated what can only be described as ninja training. They've wrestled and romped and run and taught their new baby brother how to make it to the top of the cat pole.

Interestingly enough, the old cats and the dogs like him, too. He's done "snuggles and ears" with everybody, including poor Venus, who's hanging in there and maintaining her baseline quality of life. Fuzz, for the first time in months, is spending time in the bedroom window, and earlier today, Little Omar and Diva cuddled up like spoons.

Also new is Holly, a stray dog we've been fostering for the last month, but she isn't staying. With the increased traffic in our neighborhood and the reality that we no longer have a safe place to allow our dogs to exercise, keeping her wouldn't be fair to any of us. Especially her. And us.

She's sweet as pie and remarkably calm for a six-month-old puppy. She's around thirty pounds, and our vet doesn't think she's going to get much bigger. Her teeth are in great shape, she's gone through an intensive series of parasite eradication treatment, and this past week she was spayed. We speculate that she has heeler and terrier in her family tree - the former for her body shape and gait and the latter for her wiry, low-shed coat. Her facial markings are adorable, and she's going to look like a puppy until she's an old dog.

She's cool with the other dogs, the cats, people, kids, and thunderstorms. She doesn't like fireworks, but the ones she experienced this weekend were intense and made all of us anxious.

As sweet and delightful as she is, keeping her isn't an option for us, so please feel free to share her photos and information.

If you or someone you know is interested in finding out more about her, please shoot me an e-mail - 2busyandersons@gmail.com.

Before we let Holly go anywhere with anyone, we'll have to make sure they're legit and that she's going to be a good fit, but that's standard these days with any rescue dog.

All Good July Must Come to an End

And like that, July is gone.

I can't believe how quickly summer is passing, and before long, we'll be digging out our fleecy, woolly, warm, snuggly clothes and talking about Christmas.

Sis and most of my teacher friends had "development days" this week in preparation for the return of students next week - local kids have already done registration - so for many people I know, before summer is even half over, it's over. While I understand the need for kids to get in a full year of school days, herding them back to class this early in the season seems cruel and unnecessary.

Jack and I have a couple of new additions to the family, yet-to-be-named twin kittens I found on a roadside in Cannon County and had to bring home with me. They were hungry and skinny, and the weather was very hot. I initially stopped to save a turtle from the middle of the road and left the driver's side door of the car open with my fast food sandwich (Filet-o-Fish) in my seat for the four dozen seconds it took to scoop the turtle to safety. By the time I got back to the car, a scrawny yellow kitty was all up in my sandwich, and a matching sibling was heading my direction.

No houses are nearby, and one look at the surroundings was all I needed to make the decision to bring them with me. Like I already said, they were hungry and skinny. They were also cute and friendly, and as soon as I started interacting with them, they purred and wanted to be petted.

The first couple of days were all about taking them to the vet for check-ups and baby shots and getting them started on some nutritious kitten food.

Both kittens are boys, and with the exception of one kitten having a kink at the very tip of his tail, they're identical. "Kinky," as we've started calling him is slightly heavier by an ounce or two, and his coat is a teency bit darker than "Not Kinky," but it's damn hard to tell them apart.

They're sweet as can be and seem to have gotten accustomed to the environment. They play and romp and have the biggest time. Especially first thing in the morning. Shew! They can be rowdy. And then they curl up together and sleep.

Our other critters are adapting. They know us. They've been through this before.

The old cats are pretty cool with it because kitten food tastes a lot better than what they're in the habit of eating, and the dogs have the same kind of appreciation for what they leave in the litter box.

Sorry about that, but it's the truth.

In other news, I've spent some time the past few weeks learning the craft of making pies from scratch. I've made pies before but never with enough regularity to achieve consistent results. I've had a pot-pie success here and there over the years, but as far as really throwing down and making a PIE, I'm a newbie.

The BEST Chicken Pot Pie

Fresh summer fruit has provided the perfect opportunity to hammer down some basic skills and figure out the what's-what of creating a classic pastry dough, and I have to say that my most recent efforts are on the above-average side of the curve.

Blackberry pie over July 4th weekend was amazing.

The past two weekends I've taken advantage of fresh, local blueberries.