Random Notes

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We’ve arrived at that time of the year when my popularity in this house plummets. It was cold enough yesterday morning that I finally lit the wood stove – not that I kept it going all day, just long enough to heat the place up to a comfortable temperature.

All three animals cozied up to the stove and enjoyed the heat. I wasn’t a hero for very long.

During the colder months (which would be 8 out of the 12) the door to the second floor remains closed. I only use it as an attic – the cats, on the other hand, consider it their space and like to hide out there and sleep all day. Fergus and Duff are not happy (understatement) that it is now unavailable to them.

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When they aren’t yelling at me (loudly) they are trying to break the door down. Fish is bemused by this behaviour and, quite rightly, points out that I did set up the sun porch for them as well. They don’t care.

The dog isn’t happy with me either. He is still reacting badly to whatever it is that’s making his paws so itchy and I’m reacting badly to the resulting lack of sleep.

I put a cone on him for the first time in his life. This seemed like a reasonable thing to do. I was wrong. Once the device was placed around his head/neck he was rendered incapable of sitting, lying down, or walking. If I tugged on his leash he would hop once and then freeze in place again. I lasted one hour of him standing frozen, looking like he was heading for a guillotine, and gave up. He’ll forgive me some day.

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On a positive note, I did get a few major chores done – e.g., mowing the lawn. I also took Fish for a walk down to the Breakwater, in part because I needed to go to the corner store. This outing involved climbing The Hill.

The good news is that I can now do the climb without stopping so I figure I’m finally getting fully recovered from the surgery I had 3 years ago. The bad news is that I got up there and realized I had forgotten a mask (we’re back to wearing them at all indoor spaces).

There was very little chance I would make that climb again on the same day. Luckily Boo was at the Post Office and had some extras in his truck. I’ll stuff some in all the pockets of my jackets/vests so that I don’t have to rely on a faulty memory.

Now if the animals would only forget things so easily. 🙂

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