I don’t know how it happened, but the bag we used when we went to the pool on Wednesday ended up on the coffee table on Thursday. Since it didn’t belong there, naturally a cat needed to lie on it.
When Floki saw Frankie sleeping on the bag, he hopped up on the coffee table to wait his turn.
Shortly after I took this photo, Floki had enough of waiting and started a scuffle.
I found a photo of Chris wearing a bandage from this day in 2019. He must have just returned from the vet.
Here he is the next day with Frankie and without the bandage.
I managed to get Floki and Frankie together in this week’s photo.
When my wife took out our Christmas decorations, she suggested we do the Advent calendar again, by which she meant I do the Advent calendar again. I didn’t do it last year because of our move to our current house, but I did it the two previous years.
Our Advent calendar is made of wood and shaped like a house with 24 drawers. The first year I did it, I didn’t have 24 gifts that would fit in the drawers, so I wrapped them, wrote a short poem for each, and tucked the poems into the drawers. A word of advice: Be careful when you do something overly nice for your spouse, because it will soon be expected. If my wife is reading this, I’m just kidding.
Anyway, because of the small size of our house and its limited space, I needed to ensure my gifts would not take up too much room. Because of the number of gifts, jewelry was not an option. One of the gifts I chose, partly because it would take up no room in the house, was a combination bird bath and feeder with a planter at the bottom.
I did not take a photo of it from the outside, but here it is from Frankie’s perspective.
There is a cardinal on the feeder in the above photo and a squirrel in the photo below.
I worried that squirrels might tip it over, so I attached it to a wooden stake.
So far, the cats don’t seem to care much about it, but we humans have enjoyed seeing the wildlife from our front porch.
Frankie and Floki get along well enough, but they typically don’t sleep close together. That is why it was a pleasure to see this.
The second photo was taken an hour and twenty minutes after the first, so it wasn’t like they were close by mistake. Unfortunately, since these pictures were taken over three weeks ago, I have not seen them so close again.
I threw out my back on Saturday and by this morning it was almost better until I bent to put my pants on. Now it’s worse than ever so I decided to sit on the sofa with my feet up and an ice pack behind my back.
After a little while my wife came into the room with a shocked look on her face. “I don’t believe it,” she said.
“What? What is it?”
“Look,” she said, pointing to the cats on the sofa to my left.
“Oh, wow! I don’t believe it.”
Seeing Floki and Frankie that close can only be compared to Iran inviting Israel over for a cup of tea. Okay, so that might be an extreme example, since they are not exactly enemies, but they haven’t been that close since the days of Chris.
As I write this, Frankie has left Floki and is demanding I take him for a walk. He can’t understand I am temporarily disabled.
Since Chris died, we don’t see the cat piles like we used to, but sometimes we take what we can get. If Chris were here, he would be in the gap, touching both of them.
Today, I have two memories to share with you. The first is Puck and Frankie with Chris in the background. This was taken on October 4, 2014.
You can’t take out a suitcase without attracting the attention of cats.
The second photo is of my grandmother, Sadie, my mom’s mom. She would have been 109 today. This photo was taken in October 1987.
Not coincidentally, Joe, one of the protagonists in my Last Healer Mysteries series, was born on October 3, 1916.
Here is an interesting cat toy I found on Amazon for only $10.
The toy moves randomly, which simulates real prey. I found that it really attracted our cats’ interest, but I was hoping it would be a good tool for getting our cats moving. They both can use some exercise, especially Floki, who doesn’t go outside for walks like Frankie does. I suppose the fact that Floki is over nine years old and Frankie is pushing fifteen has something to do with it.
One problem I noticed is that the toy’s tail got stuck on the floor a few times. The floor on our patio is not tile; it’s more like garden stones, which have a rough texture. I don’t know what the toy’s tail is made of, but it tended to stick to the floor like Velcro. I’m sure it would be fine inside the house.
If you are interested, here is a link to what I bought. It is an affiliate link, so if you make a purchase, I will finally be able to buy that yacht I’ve been looking at.
My wife put a wicker table on the catio a while ago, and it has become Frankie’s new favorite spot. Floki’s favorite spot is near where you see him in this photo. Apparently, they want to be where the neighbor’s dog can see them and get all riled up.
Frankie’s second favorite spot is near the house, but also on the catio. In fact, he spends nearly the entire day on the catio, only coming in to use the litter box and eat.
