Pepper

We lost our Pepper over the weekend.

I took this little guy in last June, sight unseen.

He was billed as a sweet kitten and arrived as an old man 

with failed hearing and nearly blind from cataracts.

But they got the sweet part right!  Sweetest cat ever.

He snuggled on the couch with me with a paw on my arm

or leg, and slept snuggled to my shoulder every night.

He suffered from kidney failure a few days ago

and his body was shutting down.  Nothing could

be done for him.  It was his time to go.

Words can't even express how much I miss him.

♥

Pepper

Last Sunday when we answered the door, Pepper slipped out

while we weren't looking.  Because of his bad eyesight and

hearing, we don't let him out.  He's only been out in the front

of the house twice while I supervised since he came to live 

with us this summer!  And to make matters worse, we

didn't notice he was gone until bedtime, so he had a 10

hour lead on us looking for him.  We looked for about an hour

with flashlights through the neighborhood and again in the

morning but without any luck.  Even my good friend came

and looked 2 hours in the rain throughout most of our village

 (thank you, Brian!) but Pepper was nowhere to be found.

I was brokenhearted.  I just didn't think he could find his

way home without being able to see or hear properly.

And after 3 days we had just about given up hope.

On the fourth day, about 3:00 AM, I heard his very unique

meow outside our bedroom window!  I sat straight up in bed,

woke up The Mister and kept saying, "God, please let it be true!

Don't let it be a dream!"  The Mister ran outside to see and I 

watched from the window but there was nothing when he

turned on the outside light....just The Mister searching our

courtyard in his underwear in the freezing night air.  Ugh.

I wasn't even dreaming about Pepper.  How could I have

imagined it?  I was devastated.

I turned to go into the bathroom and The Mister came into

the bedroom....with Pepper in his arms!

I wrapped my arms around them both and we made

that cat into a Pepper sandwich hug and cried and cried.

What a little miracle this was!  For one thing, he had never been

on that side of the house.  If he hadn't been under our bedroom

window we wouldn't have heard him at 3 AM. 

How did he get home after 4 days?

We said it was only God that could have done that and

we are still thanking Him for bringing him home.

He had lost the weight I worked so hard to get him to gain

when we rescued him and was dehydrated but we're 

working on that again.  He seems very happy to be home

and has reclaimed his spot in our bed every night...right in

the middle where it's the warmest.

♥

Random Thoughts

1. Patience is paying off and finally the blackberries are beginning to ripen!  Not enough for a pie but maybe some muffins!
2. You know that Angie's List commercial with the dog that shreds the feather pillow all over the living room?  I had a similar experience one evening this week.  I walked into the boys' room to find it plastered with shreds of batting!  The Spencer was flopped on their bed watching a DVD acting like everything was totally normal with tufts of batting in his hair.... One young man calmly laying in a room of chaos.  I asked what happened but of course he didn't answer.  He had a spare comforter spread out on the bed and I found their usual one turned completely inside out on the floor...minus the batting! Then Spencer started giggling.  I said, "Did you do this?  Yuck!" and he answered, "Yuck!" and laughed and laughed.  I guess he found a little rip in it and started pulling the batting out little by little and eventually got the whole thing turned inside out. It must have taken hours! It was hilarious! I wish I'd taken a picture.
3. Remember Pepper, my latest little rescue cat?  He's still doing great!  His eye infection is completely gone and although he definitely has some sight issues, he isn't bumping into things any longer.  He trots along beside me when I walk around the house, sleeps on the couch and runs to the kitchen if he hears the refrigerator open.  I still haven't taken him to the vet yet but he's coming along just fine.  He's put on some weight, too.  He's a sweetheart and all the other cats have accepted him just fine with affectionate head bumps and friendly sniffs.  
4. The lady that knocked on our door 2 years ago asking if I might be interested in taking in a sick cat came back this week to see Star. It was a sweet reunion for both of them, I think.  Star just purred up a storm as she was held and the lady almost cried for joy at seeing how healthy she is now.  It really seemed like Star remembered her and why wouldn't she....she saved her life, literally.  So fun to show her how Star is thriving now.  She really was at death's door when she came here.
5. We just got our first grill.  Yep, that's right...we have never had an outdoor grill!  For 25 years we had a JennAir stove/oven that had 2 burners and a grill side that vented out under the house.  It was just like a grill but in the kitchen.  When we had to get a new oven last year we discovered that those were no longer made and had to sadly get a conventional oven.  I thought I could made do with a grill pan but it just wasn't the same.  The good thing about the outdoor grill is that The Mister feels like he should be the king of it so we've made the adjustment of teaching him how to cook.  His prior resume is sticking a frozen pizza in the oven and even that isn't done right 75% of the time. haha.  He's still overcooking or undercooking things but they are tasting better with each try.

So what's been happening with you?

I have been terrible about visiting and posting,

haven't I?  I have a few things happily taking

up my time lately.  Hope your summer is going well!

♥

Random Thoughts

1. Did you have a nice Independence Day? We had Taylor and Lauren home for the last several days and it was a very nice time!  I need to see those big kids every so often! He turned 26 on Sunday, which is hard to believe. haha. They traveled home today and tomorrow we get back to our regular routines.  You know Wednesday is going to feel like Monday, right? 
2. I bid on this old chippy colander at an auction recently.  I thought I might sell it but it seems to have found its way into my kitchen to stay.  I'm thinking it will be a good thing to have when I'm out in the garden picking veggies!  It can go straight into the sink for everything to get a rinse!
3. Our new little rescue cat Pepper is doing great!  I still haven't gotten him into the vet but he is improving every day.  And what a sweet kitty he is!  Nobody responded to my notice on Facebook about him, so I guess he's ours forever and that's ok with us!
4. Can you believe it's July already?  The summer is flying by!  Here in Ohio our gardens are starting to flourish with lots of green fruit growing and teasing us before everything ripens.  It's always fun to watch sprouts break through the ground and thrive in the soil and a good watering every day.  Speaking of watering, it's hilarious to watch the cats when I use the garden hose.  They act like it's a big snake and they are ready to pounce if it makes a move. :)  Never a shortage of entertainment in this house!
5. I think I'll be picking my first basket of blackberries this week. There actually might be enough for a small cobbler!  Yum.
6. And God Bless you, America.  Happy Birthday to you!

Around Here, Lately. The Feline Edition.

Thursday, The Mister came home and said he had made

arrangements to bring a kitten home the next day.

I had to laugh.  See....it's not just me!

He works at our local hospital and a surgeon's wife happened

to be there and was talking about a kitten that showed up at her

house.  She had been feeding it but couldn't keep it because they travel

months at a time and she was afraid their big dog would eat it.

The Mister offered to take it and made arrangements for the next day.

I have to say I was pretty excited!

We haven't had a kitten in a long time!

But this kitty that came here was pretty much grown up....

and he has some issues.  My heart sank when I saw him.
I immediately noticed his eyes.

Cloudy, one is infected.  Blind....or nearly.

He seemed off his balance and didn't meow.

I've made a call to the vet for an appointment, so we're waiting on  

 that.  I was fortunate enough to have Vetropolycin to put in his infected eye.  
And of course food and water were inhaled. :)

I spent Friday helping the poor thing walk around.

He was banging into everything.  So sad.  I had to take him

back to the litter box and make sure he could find the food bowls.

He's made great improvements every day!

His eyes still look awful, but he has good balance now, walks pretty

fast through the house for not having much eyesight,

and he purrs incredibly loud!

I've put a post up on our area's Lost Pet Page on Facebook, just

 in case someone is looking for him.  He's belonged to someone at

 one time....probably fairly recently.  He's neutered and domesticated.

So, we shall see what happens....if he's claimed...

and what the vet says.

In case anyone is wondering about Sterling....

he seems to be avoiding fully adopting us!  He's a man about

town and very independent. haha.   I only see him once every couple

of weeks.  Sometimes he lounges on our back porch with the others.

He loves a scratch on the head and is quite charming, but

hasn't shown interest in staying.  A few weeks ago I got up in the

middle of the night and he was in the kitchen eating!

He obviously knows how to use the pet door!

I told The Mister that this winter will be the true test.

He might just decide that living in our warm home is better than

shivering in the snow.  But then he will have to abide by house

rules!  Such big decisions for a little man. hahaha.

Still, look at that face!

Swoon.

If any of you local people know of someone that lost a black

cat in the Centerville (not Cedarville) area, have them get

in touch with me.  We've named him Pepper while he's here. 

♥