Hello and Welcome To My 100th Blog!

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening...

...to all my readers and visitors. This is a very special blog because its my One Hundredth. Since the beginning, when I first started on January 22nd of 2012, I have been mixing things up with a variety of offerings. Most of them are about cats, with a few that are off-topic. So I thought I'd share a little more about who I am and why I'm doing this everyday. I know from cruising the net that not all bloggers post a daily entry; I do because some of my readers have told me they like coming to my blog for that very reason. This blog has also become an important creative venue for me over the past, almost three months, and I enjoy it very much. 

Who I am! I'm a writer and not just any writer. One of my strengths seems to be writing descriptive stories. I say 'seems to be' because I am still exploring my writing style. If you've been following my blogs, I began a story the week before introducing it on February 24th, 2012; Sailor and the Ruined Castle. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, I can tell you its worth more than that! The most interesting aspect of this story is its inception, I am writing it based completely on pictures I find on the net. The story writes itself from there. I'm not one of those sit-in-front-of-a-blank-paper writers; I let the picture inspire the story and follow it from there and each picture inspires the direction the story takes. I also have journals that date back to the 1980's, full of stories and poetry that I go back to every now and again. 

Why do I blog everyday? Its my favorite creative outlet for my story and for everything else I like to share with you, my readers. One reader told me she likes the fact that I post every single day; another said she comes back because there is always new and different content. I like variety myself and loads of pictures so that is what I use for the base of all my blogs. Since I will only settle for original, written~personally~by~me content; while I will take an idea from a different web page I will also rewrite it my own words, keeping the original content and context, intact. I don't mislead my readers and visitors. I also love to hear comments about what I am offering to as to gauge the relevance of my content. 

So, H~A~P~P~Y 100th Blog Anniversary to ME!!

I hope you have enjoyed my blogs thus far and will keep returning, especially to follow Sailor in his adventures; which incidentally, is now in the Chapter 2 phase. 

I would like to extend a 'Thank You' to all my faithful readers and new visitors to my blog, I wouldn't continue if I did not have both your interest and your support. I thank you and Sailor thanks you. And Thank you for your comments. 

Catspaw

Observations On Pet Questions I Have Answered

There are a number of question/answer sites online but I joined Yahoo Answers as a way to connect with the blogging community and get more involved. I have been answering questions about pets in general and cats in particular since February first of this year.

Having read the policies and guidelines I try not to be judgemental about the inquiries I select to reply to and make every effort to give the most beneficial responses I can that will help the person asking, as much as possible. I seem to favor query’s concerning animals in distress and owners that are vulnerable and in need of some timely and immediate advice.

My sympathy goes to those members who are requesting advice and being very honest about, perhaps something they did to their pet to cause the animal harm who are now desperately trying to make it right. While other members or just visitors to the site to browse and offer their input are not being sympathetic enough to some of these people, who are genuinely sorry for what has happened. They seem to give some of the worst and most harmful replies they can; even accusations, to the point that the asker adds a notation to their inquiry that such statements are not welcome.

Being new to blogging and the ask/answer site, I am never presumptuous about the person on the other end unless it is blatantly obvious that the subject matter of the question being asked is simply for trolling purposes. I did notice today that several of the questions I was browsing had been deleted, whether by the person or by one of the site moderators, I don't know.

I think it a shame that people refuse to simply follow the policies and guidelines that are meant to make the site the helpful place it was designed to be. No one who has joined the site or who just offers their opinion to what is being requested knows everything; some know far less then others, hence the Q and A. Since its supposed to be a place where you can ask and possibly get the best, most helpful responses you need quickly, shouldn't we all approach this issue with a little more seriousness and with a less judgemental/more concerned attitude by just providing superior assistance and resources? How upset would you be by a coarse or mean-spirited answer to a question you really needed a good, timely response to?

Catspaw

As It Happened,

As it happened, Boo’s death coincided with Sassy’s birth of a single calico kitten. We christened her Emerald because we were moving to a hamlet of that name within a few weeks. Molly seemed lost without Boo, she’d wander the house and basement calling for him; she searched outside and Sassy would join her going to all the places Boo usually went. My husband and I weren’t the only ones mourning the loss of our dear friend. It was part of the reason we decided to keep Sassy’s baby, as a balm for all of us and in remembrance of Boo. 

Now older and wiser, Emerald lives in a world of her own where she, exclusively, rules and everyone else is her servant! A beautiful creature with semi long fur in calico colors, she spends her time preening and demanding treats. Highly competitive, she has to get her treats first because she will steal them from the others. Every morning begins the same with Emmy up on her hind legs, almost dancing to grab the treat bag out of my hands with her paws. Like Molly, she is very clever at getting what she wants. She uses her paws, usually with claws out, to steal food from dishes, hands and to gingerly pull treats away from the others.

Since the move she’s gotten used to going outside but demands re-entrance by getting up on her hind legs and in Grand fashion, furiously paws the outside of the patio door. She’s aggressive when she plays and is always the first to do everything. Though she doesn’t like to be picked up and cuddled unless it’s her choosing, the morning or evening crazies find her terrorizing the entire household while everyone tries to stay out of her way. Frequently she has almost successfully gone for a headlong nosedive down the narrow basement stairs. I swear there are invisible brakes on that cat!

Catspaw    

Sassy Has a Tail to Tell

Cat Friend Two

We’d been hearing an otherworldly meowing for three or four days. Boo and Molly were inside but we could never be sure if it wasn’t them playing. Winter hit hard that year, a cold snap that included gale force winds and freezing rain like daggers, turning to blizzard blowing snow. We lived in a trailer less than a quarter mile from the farm Merrill worked at; since he had decided it wasn’t much sense to drive such a short way he walked. This particular morning I was to discover where the source of the ethereal meowing was coming from. 

Just before 8 am I opened the porch door for Merrill when we both caught a glimpse of an orange cat before it vanished down a hole in the skirting around the trailer. How long it had been under there we didn’t know but now we had an accounting for the ghostly meowing we’d been hearing. After he left I opened a can of tuna, bundled myself into my parka, boots, mitts and scarf and sat myself down next to the hole with the tuna held out just far enough that it had no choice but to crawl out to get the food. The bribe didn’t take long to work but the feline fought like a wildcat to get free of the towel and my grasp. In the dead of winter and so obviously a  ‘throw-away’, an unwanted that someone dumped because, being near a farm thought there would be a means of survival or they just chucked the helpless little thing out to die in the freezing cold. Someone was grievously in need of a heart.

Once I managed to get this struggling little bundle inside and while the cat ate I had a better look at it. ‘It’ was not a cat in the real sense of the word, more like a pale shadow of one. The sad package before me was a dirty orange color, more bone than skin or fur and ferocious when defending food. Boo and Molly didn’t know what to make of this unwelcome, belligerent stranger suddenly in their midst so they stayed at a constant distance and gave way in everything so now, there was a perpetual tension in the house. Kitty was equally vicious towards us. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you, I had to be extremely careful when putting food down so as not to lose a hand to a sudden flash attack at anything that threatened the food and milk dishes; the cat was utterly convinced that I would the food away from it. 

Puss was sick, undernourished and piddled everywhere. I soon learned that we had another female in the house, unsprayed. Now I had to practically reinvent patience when it came to teaching her to use the cat box, this only when she would allow me to touch her, let alone to pick her up but as time went on and with slow improvement, she started gaining some weight. As her health improved so did her temperament, somewhat, but still she remained openly defiant and distant as if afraid to give in and rely on me for her care. It took several months to win her trust and more than a few more months before the three of them would learn to like each other and get along. It was a long winter! 

She took delight in doing her level best to dominate Boo and Molly. Taking over their personal places and making them hers; eating out of their dishes and playing with their toys. I think it amused her to annoy them and get away with it but eventually Molly began to take exception and quarreled with her over things that were rightfully hers. So the sparing events started. It was not unlike the Roman Gladiators, all one had to do was put armor on them and a sword in their paws and Wawla!  Gladiator Cats!  

They never actually hurt each other and even Boo would wake up and take notice; it was the loud caterwauling that got the neighbors attention and brought an almost endless stream of visitors and sudden friends to my door. For obvious reasons we named her Sassy because of her sassy disposition. Eventually, Sassy and Molly worked out their differences and played together, this usually involved racing up and down the hallway to see which of the two was faster and squabbling over the highest seat on the cat tower Merrill made for them, much to the annoyance of Boo. 

For a time Molly forgot about venturing outside to follow Boo, now she had a new friend to play with. Summer wore on and after a time it became a little too quiet in the house; I went to check. Merrill had repaired the screen in the spare room window, now I found it torn again and this time, two kittens were out and about in the neighborhood. 

Sassy has had a happy home with us for the past few years and joined us on our adventurous cross Canada road trip to PEI. 

Catspaw  

My Profile

Dear Readers

I am working on getting information into my profile but I've been having some difficulty. Please bare with me, I'm new at this and will have it up as soon as I can. 

Catspaw