Friday in Emberville

It's "make your own den" Friday!

My day began a little before 3 a.m. with the rumblings of thunder and rain overhead.  I flipped on the TV to watch middle of the night local storm coverage.  The dog-mom in me worried about 1) ability to hold (she'd last gone out and peed and poo'd at 9 p.m.) and 2) would she have the willingness to go out in the storm.

I need not have worried.  I was downstairs by 4, and followed the normal order of business:  feed the cat, get the dog out, feed the dog, play indoor games with dog until it gets light/late enough to take dog for walk. 

I did vary the routine AFTER the dog walk, because she had already done her business before sunup.  We just came back in and played quietly while I cooked and ate my own breakfast.  Angel puppy was mostly ascendant.  We have reached the point in Ember's development (and especially with all the disruption of her yard) where I take her with me to do simple chores like bringing the trash bins back from the curb.

Interestingly, when we pulled the big bin back into the garage, I opened the back car door, and The LIttle One hopped right into the back seat.  Not one to bypass an "opportunity", I buckled her into her spot, and we took a little ride around the block in the car.

She hung out in the kitchen with me while I chopped veggies and built my lunch salad.  For her share she got a slice of cucumber and to lick the measuring cup that held the cottage cheese.

She seems calm and content today.  We have been out on leash several times, back yard and front.  And two Runkeeper measured leash walks.  I put unwatched episodes of Grey's Anatomy on the streaming TV and the two of us napped, first with her head on my lap, and then she shifted herself to the floor, eventually choosing to "den" herself under my reclined side of the couch.

The landscape company came and collected their Bobcat this morning, but some things are left behind.  I rather suspect that with the storms overnight they might have picked up some clearing work such that this Bobcat would be handy.  Other than that, too muddy to do the sprinkler work.

I'm a little paranoid/worried about The Prisoner this afternoon.  He's not getting out of the way of Ember as quickly as he had been.  Today, Ember had her mouth on his legs and his tail, and he seemed to struggle getting up to the deck rail.  For the first time, Prisoner swiped back and Ember yelped and retreated.  I told her that's what she gets for messing with a cat, and she has to leave him alone!

A little while after that I went out to the deck on my own, leaving Ember in her den (clean up time out while the laundry load runs).  Prisoner greeted me and rubbed my legs all over (random thought:  is that why Ember wants to nip at my ankles?)  He followed me out to the dirt patch, every step as I pulled milk weed sprouts. Then he consented to an escort to his luxury suite in the laundry room, where he has food, water, a litter box and a bed.  He's not a young cat, and I am his human and have been since he was a tiny kitten.  I just want to do my best by him, even while Ember is clearly in ownership of my heart as well.

Sometimes I think cats aren't upset by the environmental disruption, but there is clearly evidence to the contrary.  Love this elderly furry!

And where there is love, Life is Good!  Spark on!