It's the little things that trip me up.

Jan 13, 2007

I ran some errands today: I had to deposit my paycheck (going on two months, and - oh, whaddayaknow, they forgot to enter my autodeposit information! What is going on over there?!??), I needed to buy a new pot for the Christmas tree, which has been sending out new growth and thus would probably be happier with more room for the root system; I wanted to get weatherstripping, for the gaps around the poorly-hung front door; and I wanted to get more birdseed (preferably stuff that would appeal to the finches and sparrows I see most often. I deposited my money, then hit the hardware store got an 8-inch plastic self-watering pot and a bag of soil. I got Miracle-Gro indoor/outdoor potting soil, both because the bag said “grows plants twice normal size!” and because I’d seen Mom use this stuff while I was growing up. (When it comes to things about which I don’t know much, I’m a big ol’ brand whore.) I then thought about getting a new birdfeeder, as well: something that wasn’t just large-mesh sides, which holds sunflower seeds fine but doesn’t work so good with smaller seeds. The hardware store’s selection didn’t thrill me, so off I went to the pet store.

Where they had the local rescue group.

With kitten adoptions.

I stopped. I gazed. I meeped. I did not even ask if I could pet one of the cats. I could not come home with another cat. I have three, and that’s as many as I can feed, keep healthy and happy, and give each of them enough space. If I had more, they’d all need to be from the same litter so they got along. Introducing a kitten to my household might be hazardous to the poor kitten. (No, not really…but there would be disharmony. And possibly peeing upon the carpets.) I found a suitable birdfeeder, got some no-waste birdseed, and walked to the other side of the store so that I could get to the cash registers without passing the kitten adoptions.

While walking down the other side of the store I passed the adoption room, which was in use. There were older cats in three of the (large, well-lit, clean, airy) cages, with food, water, soft beds, litter boxes, and signs with all pertinent details about the cats. There were two mostly-white cats, curled up sleeping (or ignoring the world, one never knows with cats); and a sleek black female named Lillith. She raised her head and opened her eyes, and as soon as she saw that I was looking right at her, she miaowed and stood up. She had the prettiest gold eyes, and she looked so friendly, and she was talking to me. She was just over one year old. Yet, because she was no longer “cute”, she was put in the back. There were no signs letting people know that there were more cats in the back. There weren’t even any attendants to answer peoples’ questions about adoptions. There were just three lovely cats — one of whom reminded me of Fog both in coloration and because she was so friendly.

Meh. No, I cannot really have another cat. Not, not, not. No. My three household gods would rise up and smite me.

At any rate, I got home and sat the potting soil, empty pot, and tree in the kitchen by the sink. I filled the new pot about 1/3 full of the Miracle-Gro Laughably Expensive Dirt, then pulled the tree out of the decorative red thing. That old pot was pretty small…probably about four inches in diameter, and maybe half a foot deep. I wasn’t too sure how to get the tree, with dirt-and-roots intact, out of the old pot; so since the old pot was cheap plastic, I just used my Exacto knife and sliced open its side. The tree, now stripped of the last of the twist-wire-attached ornaments, is sitting in the window, catching the last bits of afternoon sun and basking in the warmth rising from the heater. Hopefully I didn’t shock its system, or slice any of its roots, getting it into the new pot.

I put 3/16” weatherstripping on three places around the front door jamb, so hopefully that will cut down on the escaping heat. While I placed the strips, I watched to make sure that Fog didn’t get out. I placed the final strip, turned around…and there were Monkey and Fog, sitting in the same places. With that catastrophe averted, I sat down to assemble the bird feeder. About halfway through, I heard someone else’s cat miaowing and noticed that Monkey and Fog were very interested in something going on out front. Well, that’s not totally out of the realm of possible. I remember one afternoon when they and a neighbor’s cat carried on an entire conversation through the windowscreens and across twenty feet of air. As the speech continued with no answer from either of my tribe, and got louder, I began to wonder if one of the complex cats had gotten up the gumption to visit our front door. I got up, opened the door, re-stuck a piece of weatherstripping that was making a break for freedom…and looked down to see Ursa on the front porch in slink-mode, looking up at me with the most pitiful/annoyed expression I’ve seen on him since I gave him a tub-bath. I let him in and held him and petted his cold, cold fur while he purred, thrilled to be back inside where it was warm again. I put him down and he went straight for his food bowl. Never mind that he’d been outside for less than ten minutes (and not while it was raining, snowing, dark, or windy), he’d been away from the food bowl. I gave all three cats a treat (since if you give one a treat, you’d darn well better be giving everybody treats or There Will Be Trouble), and finished assembling the birdfeeder. It’s plastic (yugh), with twelve separate “feeding bays” and three separate levels of food-storage (in some bird feeders, as the food level lessens, birds can no longer cling to the topmost areas and get food. This takes care of that problem.) It’s full of shelled sunflowers, white millet, cracked corn, hulled millet, peanuts, and lumps of suet. Since I put it up, I’ve seen five birds on it at once. The birds love the food; the cats love the entertainment. It’s a win-win.

While I did get things done today, I didn’t accomplish much of what I want to get done this weekend. The business side of things has backed up, and I really need to take care of that. I want to install and configure the new billing software. I want to get the templates done for my business-blog. I want to get some more support documentation written. And, this being a weekend, I want to get some laundry done and read a bit, as well as visit the later Thursday13 participants. I can cross some of those items off my to-do list tomorrow; but I know that I won’t be able to finish them all.

Dangit.

(Well, yay me. I actually did get to go through the T13 list and visit more sites!)

Keywords: | cats |
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