Wednesday in the Sun...

Well...here I am all by my little self on a Wednesday morning in sunny (right now) Suisun City. Just bought a smidgen of Saffron from a US supplier, 37 bux worth of the precious stuff...indispensable for some recipes...Spanish, Mexican, Persian and Indian foods.  So expensive in the stores in the minuscule amounts I simply won't buy it there anymore. So online at this address:
http://www.theposter.com/saffron2.html   a good source, a bit of a fuss setting up your account but fair prices and reasonable shipping ( a real expense these days!) and great products make it worth the trouble.

Mopping...you know, rag mop, water, a bit of soapy stuff...better than any dust spewing vacuum.  Swept the kitchen (my giant mess site!) then mopped it, the back bathroom and the dining room floors while Kelly was away tending to business for Kell our eBay site.  I genuinely LIKE mopping, so it's not a chore at all.  I know it's unusual, but hey I like ironing too!  Some strange gene combinations all tangled up with airplanes, weather, music and they myriad of other interests and avocations I dabble in.  Makes for an interesting day every day.

Currently I'm working on a violin rebuild for a Chris's Club lady friend.  It was a wall hanger once upon a time but she rescued it and brought it to CC a couple of weeks ago.  She showed it to me and my curiosity took over.  Next thing I knew it was in my possession and on the way home with me to be repaired.  Missing 2 tuners, the all important bridge and strings it has been quite a project making me read, read and study violins like never before.  So much to do and investigate...order requisite parts from far flung sources and the inevitable wait while they ship.  I'm invested under 100 bux so far and that's about all I think it needs, I won't charge her anything for my labors but the parts...yes.
It'll be a playable beauty when I get through with the repairs someday real-soon-now!

The snapshot at the top of the page is from my old webcam, thoroughly obsolete or nearly so...says Logitech stuck in a planter on the front porch looking east towards Main Street.   I ordered a new one from Newegg yesterday as the cam is showing it's poor quality as you can see.  The new one will be installed once it gets here... http://www.newegg.com

Oh...and Furry the Kat...still with us, weight near 6lbs and far more energetic and seemingly back to being a Very Olde Kat once again 175 USD later.  Hydration was the issue and now with wet foods and plenty of water she is her Olde self again.  Hooray for now!  Like the Vet said to us on Friday last, "You take it as it comes when they get this age."

Deathwatch Averted! Meeeeoowwww!

Yes, day before Thanksgiving looked to be Furry's last...then off to the Cat House in the Sky!  Deathwatch 2012 was upon us we thought.  She just laid there looking awful, fur all screwed up and skinny as a cat could be...food bowl mound untouched...water bowl in a similar state.  Shit!  We watched her for the morning hoping against hope that this was just a "down day" in the life of the dear Queen.  Then about 11 Kelly called the vet at ABC Animal Hospital and told them of her "condition".  Our day is set.  They said "Come on in", so we gathered her up into her carrier and away we went.  ABC is about 2 miles from here across Highway 12 and the vet we have been using for years, kind, attentive to people and animals alike, they are ultra reliable.  Upon arrival we were taken into the Cat Examination Room and the familiar stainless steel table and all the photos of cats and the possible diseases they can experience.  The Cat nurse was very careful with our ancient (she'll be 19 on April 1st) Fur-Rr-Eee, taking her temperature rectally (she didn't like it at all this time!) and having a less than easy time of it, there being a "poop mat" preventing the delicate operation from success.  Another Cat Nurse joined in the fun and soon the mat was removed and her temperature was announced as "normal".  "Does she eat normally",  she asked, "Not today" was my reply.  "Poop?", she returned, "I think so...she has a robot so it's difficult to know," I said petting Furry's back.  "The doctor will be right in" she said as she left us alone to await the medicine to come.  Soon the good Doc joined us and checked her mouth, listened to her lungs and heart and felt for lumps etc.  He spoke of Liver failure, kidney disease, worms etc.  Seeming well enough he announced that she needed a blood test to see if something "inside" was amiss.  We also talked a bit about possible outcomes (Deathwatch Scenario #1).  He then wrapped her in a towel and took her elsewhere for the blood draw while we anxiously waited.  In about 15 minutes he returned with Furry and a small slip of paper...the results, which he then reviewed with us.  Showing results that were nearly normal, especially on the critical liver and kidney tests he decided to re-hydrate the obviously dehydrated cat, so out came a kit and soon the saline solution was flowing thru the tube into her neck.  Then came a shot to control the vomiting she had been having.  It took two grown men to hold her down through these "procedures"!  She wasn't having this easily!  Another 15 minutes and it was all wrapped up, Furry back into her carrier in a second...living up to her name!  Then pay the $175 bill (not bad at all, given all the effort done in her (and our) behalf.  Also we were given a bottle of vitamin drops to place into her food and told to give her "wet" food as a precaution against dehydration. 
---
Of course we were scheduled to go down to Merced for our annual Thanksgiving with Kelly's cousin and other family members on their ranch...she had to call and tell them we were not able to come as Furry needed our full attention.  Shit!  Further it meant we had to shop not only for wet food for the darling beast but for makings of a Thanksgiving dinner for ourselves and Audrey.  Yes...all for the cat.  It is ALWAYS for the cat...isn't it?!  Deathwatch Averted...today, she seems fine, gloating that she has gotten us to feed her wet food and we didn't leave her to fend for herself yesterday.  Yes, she's fine...and she goes BACK to the vet this afternoon at 4 for the "check up"...Hmmmmmm.  She won that one!