Nedi's Present

Lovey greatly appreciates "here and now" things - a taste of your food, fresh catnip, treats she watches you pour from a pouch, and being able to be touched and loved upon demand.  She always wants to be in the sunshine, or under a light.  Nedi is a different sort of cat. He is an independent little man, who at times craves attention, but generally wants to be left alone.  He likes to hide under, behind, and inside things.
  We have a cat tree in the living room, which is beside the sliding glass doors, so the cats can look out onto the balcony, and beyond.  In good weather, they go out there and can play, or lounge, as they prefer.  Lovey lies in the full sun, and Nedi lies under the table or the chair.  I have a large window in my bedroom, with my desk, and the old cat tree placed in front of it.  The cat tree is placed where the window can be opened, and fresh air can enter.   There is a small cat tree, that is a large clawing post, at the end of the hall.  Beatrice has three windows in her room - two in her bedroom and one in the walk-in closet.  Both cats sit on the windowsills in Bea's room and watch people, wildlife, and traffic pass by.
   Lovey occasionally wants to get under the bed covers with me - but only if I'm lying on my back, with my legs parted in a v shape; she sleeps between my knees and ankles.  If I shift position in any way, she comes out and lays on my shoulder.  Nedi, maybe twice a year or so, wants to curl up against a part of me, touching only the cover.  He is not a snuggler.  Lovey would be inside my skin, if she could figure a way to be there.
  Nedi, however, loves bags - plastic shopping bags, cloth shopping bags, vinyl bags, clear, colored, ones that stand up by themselves, and one that collapse.  One of his favorite places to hide is in one of the closets, but visitors have a habit of closing that door (it's double-hung, on a track), and we have, on occasion not known that Nedi was imprisoned within.
   We decided to keep the door closed, but to provide Nedi with a "bolt hole" elsewhere.  I found, and purchased, the perfect thing today - it's a medium to large sized heavy cloth basket.  It has a square, wire framed bottom (fully cloth covered and padded) and a round heavy plastic collar at the top (again, fully covered and padded).  We brought it upstairs filled with other items we had purchased while out shopping, and, as soon as it was empty, Nedi jumped inside.  I think he's been out of it twice since we brought it home....   I picked it up by the handles and carried him (and it) over into the corner behind my reading chair.  That's where the little man is, right now.  Lovey has looked at it, sniffed it, and totally ignored it since.

Pet Sitting

What a crazy couple of days - one of my clients is obsessing about a package sent via the post office, and which was "supposed to be" delivered before Christmas.  She has been sending me e-mails about said package since Friday, just about every four hours, and it finally arrived after 4 yesterday afternoon.  It's sitting safely in the kitchen of her house with the rest of her mail...  At least her cats are quiet and loving, and she returns on New Year's Eve.
  Charlie, I have decided, is a wild child, and unless I had her constantly with me for four, or more, months, in my mind she's untrainable.  She has been given so many treats that it is difficult to do anything with her, and I wondered why she was crated any time she was left alone in the house.  Now I know - she's a destructive little terror - anything she can reach is fair game, and is chewn and/or eaten.  When I want to release her from her crate, I have found she will not sit down and be still while I'm opening the latch - she is so excited that she is constantly pawing and nipping at the latch area.  I tell her to sit, and she sits, but as soon as I make any movement whatsoever toward the crate - she's up and dancing, pawing and nipping.  Tell her to sit again, and she will sit, but once I move again, she's up and ready.  She will not listen to the word "no," and goes her merry way.  "Bad dog" has no effect either - she just bounces up and tries to nip your fingers, because her owner constantly feeds her treats.  -  I spent 90 minutes yesterday just trying to get her to sit and wait for me to open the crate latch, as I have done every day this week.  She is not a stupid dog, and she has definitely learned how to run  her owners.  I'll be quite happy when they return tomorrow.
  My kits only had a few minutes outside this morning, but there was a little over an inch of snow on the ground, so they weren't really happy outside, anyway.  Lovey sat in a chair and soaked up sunshine, while Nedi was playing with the squirrels,  Two new boxes have appeared where the knife-throwing neighbor has set up, but my kits avoided them.  Tugger and Sasquatch's folks are due back this evening, and I'm now staying at Rosie's.
  Getting ready to watch the Broncos - hope we win and have no more injuries!