Tiger Pouncings

Been having a pretty rotten week. I must have caught a bug from a coworker on Saturday because by Sunday evening I was puking my guts out — no sleep. Went into work on Monday but couldn't hack it, so I went back home — not before I found out that the coworker in question had the same thing.

I know I caught it from him and not the other way around because he came down with the symptoms first. Also, his wife runs a day care for little germ factories.

Felt like crap Tuesday but hung in at work for a day. Yesterday I came home early with a queezy stomach. Aside from being sick, I was feeling really down too. Then it dawned on me. It was two years ago yesterday I found Goblin on the deck suffering a heart attack; two years ago today that we had to put him to sleep.

Goblin was one of those special cats (hell, they're all special, but he was REALLY special) who works his way deep into your heart. I loved his head butts, the way he'd hop up on the bed at night and sit by my head purring, and his naughty streak.

He was a beautiful, sweet guy, and I still miss him very much. It seems every time we lose a cat, it must leave a shock wave in the "quantum foam" that we feel over the months and years to follow. Or perhaps it's just an emotional shock wave in our subconscious.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics you've probably seen before. I have nearly as many spirit kitties as I have solid kitties now (plus one MIA).

Saturday night, Patty and I went up to Red Rocks for the 'True Colors' concert. We got to see The B-52s, Cyndi Lauper, and Rosie O'Donnell. They also had Carson from 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' as M.C. — quite the funny guy.

Patty and I were there mainly for the B52s, and they were great! After the concert, Cindy and Kate came out for a little while and signed autographs. I didn't get one (darn!) but I did get a few pics. Sure wish I'd brought my Canon.

Today, I finished off setting stonework for a flower bed. Patty and I both had the day off. Back to work tomorrow.

The B52s On Stage Yeah, my phone camera sucks.

Hi, I'm Kate, and I am a Taurus... Kate signs autographs.

Up early this morning to give 'The Big Briefing' to a Lt. Colonel from Headquarters. Went very well. We also had a support up and running with the simulators which kept him very interested.

In other news, I completed another paper model. Great fun to build during lunch breaks at work.

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Recovering from last night's trip to Denver to see the Rush concert. The highlight of the evening was definitely the introduction to their hit Tom Sawyer...

Thanks, Dad...

...for giving me a love of airplanes,

...for showing me it's more fun to 'shoot' animals with a camera,

...for teaching me how to do loops, Immelmanns, and Split-Esses,

...for telling me it's better to work smart than work hard (even though you still have to work hard sometimes),

...for all those hours spent watching educational, public television,

...for planting the seeds of my love of classical guitar, and a varied taste in music,

...for making it possible for me to spend my teenage years on 40 acres of beautiful woodland,

...for showing me almost nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it,

...for not complaining too loudly when my driving makes you nervous (even though yours makes ME nervous),

...for always loving me. =)

Dad teaches me how to fly an ornithopter...

Busy couple of weeks. I still have a bunch of Missouri pics to post. But first, a little something from our garden...

Irises in our North lot - 2008

Waiting for Munchkin cat to come through the cat door so I can close up for the night. Spooky is snoring — poor guy.

Earlier this evening, put the finishing touches on my paper German 234_1 armored car. This is another Paper Tiger download. Here's a link for anyone interested: Paper Tiger

Good Grief! C'mon, cat, I'm sleepy!

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Well, sometimes good things do happen. The little kitten's name is Mao Mao.

Since yesterday I've been posting flyers saying, 'Found -- Black Kitten' on front doors around the neighborhood. Yesterday I hit several blocks to the west. This evening I started going eastward. It wasn't long before I ran into someone who asked, 'Does the kitten look like it has six toes?'

'Yes,' I said, 'It looks like it has opposable thumbs'. The lady then replied that there was a young woman who lived down the next street who had been looking for her little black kitty. So I went down to that house and sure enough, she was there. Rachel followed me the block and a half back to my house, and came in. Little Mao Mao was curled up on top of our kitty condo.

'Are you Mao Mao?' Rachel asked, 'You ARE Mao Mao!' she said as she looked closer.

So, it's a happy ending for Mao Mao, Rachel, and us. Which is good because Patches has been having tummy troubles and we've been kept doubly busy with him and Mao Mao.

Butterfinger will be very happy too, because she thinks SHE's the only girl kitty allowed in this house. She's been trying to whack Mao Mao since Saturday.

Mao Mao relaxes in the spare bedroom

While I was working out in the yard today, I kept hearing a kitten meowing that 'distress' meow. It was coming from across the street, so I walked over and called to it.

Turned out a black kitten, oh about 4 or 5 months old, was stuck in my neighbor's basement. I opened up the door and out she came. It must have snuck in under his deck, into the open window, and then forgot how to get back out.

So, we've got a little black she-kitten in the house. She's very sweet and likes to hang out with Patty and me with great interest in whatever we're doing. She must belong to someone because she's not skiddish at all.

The boys don't really care, but Butterfinger is jealous as hell. She charged it the first time she saw it.

The Memorial Day weekend here in Old Colorado City is 'Territory Days', so we've decided to keep little Baby in the house. Too much traffic and people.

This evening I went walking around knocking on doors to see if anyone is missing a cat. One lady down the street said that several days ago, a woman and her little girl were walking down the alley looking for their lost kitten. They didn't leave a phone number though. So, the search is on.

Wish us luck...

Here are a coupla pics for you. More to come.
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Just got back from a week's visit to Missouri. Got to see Mom and Dad. It's very GREEEN in Missouri. They've had an over-abundance of rain. We sure could use some out here in CO.

I know. I didn't say anything before I left. Security doncha know. Don't know who's listening.

Pics to follow...

Patches is back from the vet looking a lot more bright-eyed than yesterday.

The results: His kidney levels look good. His teeth look good. His white blood cell count was up but not the kind that would indicate cancer. Looks like maybe he has a good old fashioned sinus infection, plus maybe some arthritis.

So, we've got antibiotics, some special food, and some pain medicine for his old joints. As soon as he got home, he went upstairs, then downstairs. He was motoring around so well that Patty lost track of him at one point.

He's downstairs 'hangin' with his buddy Gizmo (alias Catzilla) right now.

We had a wonderful rain all last night. Everything has turned green. I have some pictures of the garden from earlier this week. Maybe I can get them posted before the weekend. There's a heady aroma from the Crabapple trees right now. I love it.

Baby Girl has been sneezing since yesterday. I wonder if she has allergies...

Has it really been three years? That long since we lost our little Felix (alias Pepe' le Pew and at one time, when he was fat, 'Baby Shamoo')? He was 18 when his kidneys finally gave out. Very sad because he was such a sweet, timid little magpie kitty.

Years ago, when we lived in our duplex on Willamette Ave, Felix was out sitting on the sidewalk when a big crow came swooping down over him. Felix jumped up on his hind legs, stretched out his front paws and twisted around, dancing in a circle as he reached for the crow.

From that day on we called him Dancing Pepe'. Felix was joined in kitty heaven by his life-long pal, Madison, last year.

All the joy and love we get from them over the years is worth the painful price we have to pay in the end — giving them up.

Our current 18 year-old Grandpa cat, Patches, is spending the night at the vet's. He has some sort of infection and is a little dehydrated, so they have him on IV fluids with antibiotics. His kidney values look good though, so hopefully, he'll be well soon. Seems like we always get these little shock waves on the anniversary of losing one of our boys.

Felix and Madison They were best pals

Felix Watches Pepe' helps me game on the dining room table.

I remember every Saturday morning, when the local weather man put on his face paint and hosted The Corky the Clown Show. They'd show cool old cartoons like Dick Tracy. But every so often, he'd say, 'Heeeere's Ole BUCKETHEAD!!!' And on would come the coolest cartoon of all.

And so formed the soft spot in my heart Iron Man. The loner genius who built the coolest things. Anti-social, a little like me.

I never really had any of the old comic books, except in the '80s when I bought the graphic novel 'CRASH'. Looked like it had been done on a Mac — very cool for the day.

Went to see the movie with Patty this evening. Oh Man! Did they ever do it right! Two snaps up in a circle, Baby!

I've been working on a few paper modeling projects lately. Most recently completed is my design for a model 1943 turret to go with Paper Tiger's T-34 kit.

Paper Tiger has a cool site with lots of cheap paper model kits. I have a couple of my finished models featured on his site: http://www.papertigerarmaments.com/

Anyway, here are some pics of my design in progress and the finished product...

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Patches hurt his leg yesterday so we've been nursing him along. Got some pain meds from the vet today.

Yesterday it was 73 deg F. This morning it got up to 60. This afternoon a front blew in, it's freezing, and we've got a couple inches of snow. If you don't like the weather in Colorado, stick around...

So, this evening, we hung out and worked on hobbies with the help of our furry personal assistants...

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My car's in the shop so I took the day off today. Found this cool link. I gotta build me one of these...

http://www.nemonautilus.com/bobsnautilus/dtn.html

Last night I dreamed of Goblin. Somehow the stitches came out of his right eyelid and it opened up. A piece of gauze fell out revealing the empty socket. We hurriedly got him to the emergency vet. When they brought him out, we saw that instead of re-sewing his eye closed, they had put in some sort of artificial eye.

It looked very real and moved as his left eye moved. It almost seemed like he could see out of it. He was very happy and purring loudly. I was still looking closely at his new eye, trying to figure out if he could see through it, when I woke up.

I didn't feel bad about the dream, but it did remind me that I miss my Boo cat. I think it will be a couple of years this July since we had to put him to sleep. I hope you're somewhere happy and seeing through two good eyes, Goblin. = ^. .^=

Goblin says, No, I don't know where you're gonna sleep.

Goblin in the Sink

Winter Boo

As Indy Jones says, 'It's not the years, it's the mileage.'

Yep, the ole Tiger had a birthday today. I know what you're saying, 'April Fools? It figures.'

Well, the lesson here is to always keep your sense of humor.

Had a pretty good day today. I'm going to have to pick out some more paper models to buy. WOOHOO!!!

Anyway, thanks for all the good wishes from everyone. =)





Oh, and Yoda spent the night on the bed last night. Baby Girl didn't attack him. When I woke up this morning, Gizmo and Spook were on the bed too. A big purr fest. I was glad. =^. .^=

Yoda catchin' some rays.