Hello blog.  It’s been a long time.  A lot has happened and one of the things that happened presented an ideal opportunity to do some writing.  It was also a great time to declutter, finish projects, learn a new language, and all kinds of things that I always think I don’t have time for.  It was the year of the Covid-19 pandemic.  It isn’t over but I don’t feel as jumpy as I did a year ago.  I spent most of the year at home with outings to Market Basket (MB from now on), Quilted Threads (QT from now on), and fully protected gatherings with some of the quilters who were also being careful with social interactions.  

Of course I did nothing and was dismayed to discover that my house was going to look worse when we were allowed back out into the world.  I was relieved to know that it was a universal plight.

I made masks for friends and family.  It was my service for those who may have not had a source for protection as well as an opportunity to make some fun and/or pretty face coverings.  In the beginning there was a shortage of everything that could help with protecting us from being infected by this disease that we knew so little about.

This post will skip around as I think of events to write about.  Time lines have never been my strong suit.

My sweet Kya had to be put down on July 20, 2020.  It was very hard to have an ailing kitty during the pandemic because I was not allowed to accompany her into the building for her appointments.  The tech would come out and grab the carrier and run back inside.  It was horrible.  Some things could have been better if I could have talked with the vet while she was being examined.  It’s still too painful to write about.

My being catless made me available to take care of Amanda’s cats when she and her family made their move back here from the west coast.  John was taking a transfer back to Massachusetts which would take effect beginning in January.  He and Amanda flew here at the end of October to start looking for a house to buy.  They were worried about getting all their animals here and decided to bring two of the cats, the smaller ones who fit in carriers that could travel in the main cabin of the plane with them.  I said I would be happy to take care of them until they found a house because it was looking like they were going to have to rent a place for a while and rentals wouldn’t accept cats.  

At the end of October Piper and Pip were dropped off in N. Sutton.  California cats in a winter landscape.  Piper and Pip were mother and son, a bonded pair of tuxedo kitties.  They were totally charming and funny and I became very attached.

To shorten the story somewhat, the rest of the family, four kids, two dogs, two more cats made their way east over Christmas to the new year and Asher and Hunter were brought to N. Sutton.  They were pretty unsettled over the change in their lives and spent a lot of time hiding.  I spent a lot of time looking for them and crying when I couldn’t find them for the greater part of a day.  I have to say they were very inventive in the places they found for hiding.  Most of their time was spent in the den where they could be protected from the wrath of Piper.  While my house is really too big for one person it definitely is too small for four cats and one person is not enough for four cats. 

After about a month and a half Asher and Hunter started spending more time out of the den and every night in time for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy we would all be occupying all available seating in the living room.  Treats were my way of maintaining order and we had them on auto delivery from Chewy.

In the meantime Amanda and John were looking for a house and found one in Marshfield, MA with the closing scheduled for April 15, 2021.  I started to dread having to give up Piper and Pip and did an emotional downward spiral at the thought of the kitties leaving me.  

Fast forward to the last day of April and the kitties leave.  They all adapted to their new home and I started adapting to being catless again until one day in June I got a call from Amanda that she had found a bonded pair of tuxedo kitties that needed a home because the owner was relocating.  They are a aunt and nephew and are so like Piper and Pip in that she is older and short haired and he is the younger and shaggy haired. Amanda and Sabrina picked them up from the owner in Taunton, MA on Thursday evening and Beth drove me to Amanda’s on Friday, June 11, to pick them up.

And here we are on July 11, one month into this adventure of bonded kitties who don’t really seem to be but we’re working on it.  Boo, the male, has a somewhat safe house in the den.  MK, for Miss Kitty, is a bit of a tyrant to Boo but sweet as can be to me.

A side bar here, July 11, 2021 marks 27 years since Dad died.  I remember that day so well.  I wish he had known that he had a half sister out in CA.