Before and After -- Ta Da!

And Eloise has her own problems

After not ever noticing many cats in this neighborhood before, suddenly this spring, we started to feel like we had a very popular teenager at our house. Lots of cats were coming by in the evening to chat up Eloise. Some she would talk to and share space with, others she would chase away. There is a fluffy orange cat that lives down the street she doesn't like and a mean black and white one. One cat she seems to tolerate is missing a front paw and walks with a decided limp. Assuming he is a stray and feeling he is at a disadvantage in the natural world, Duncan puts food out on the deck whenever this "tripod" visits. One night, there was a terrible row outside involving several of Eloise's regular visitors that left blood on the deck and little tuffs of fur floating in the air. Eloise was inside, yowling and swatting the glass door with her paw. We all rushed outside and the last thing we saw was Black and White Cat shooting around the corner and Tripod hobbling off down the creekbank.

Several days passed before Tripod appeared again. Duncan put a bowl of food out and Eloise went and sat on the back steps, appearing to stand guard so he could eat in peace. Awww. Too sweet. Cat friends. Buds.

Things sort of settled into a quiet routine with Queen Eloise as the indoor cat and Tripod, the outdoor cat. Not politically correct, but it was working. Then, one day recently Tripod showed up with a new friend. A little black and white female -- different from the black and white thug cat. She has a little swoosh across her face, so Duncan calls her Paintbrush. And apparently she and Tripod are best buds now. He brings her to eat on Eloise's deck. They eat out of the same bowl. Sometimes she licks his head while he eats. Eloise is horrified. She regrets she was ever nice and feels Tripod has taken advantage of her kindness. She cannot believe their flagrant noodling on her deck. She cannot understand why we seem to encourage them.

So her outside territory has been defiled and now workers are inside the house, making noise and doing all kinds of unexpected things so she can't find a good place to nap. She has retreated under the bed -- and resorted to stress eating. What else can she do??

This is a bigger deal than I thought.

I'm glad I didn't get it in my head to do the bathroom myself. I had no idea how involved it would be. This is the progress we've made this week. We're still pretty dusty here.

Cast of Characters

Clockwise from top left: Mom, John D'Emilio, Vicki Thomas, Julie Knight, Duncan, Me and Maura, Morris and Christy

Beware the Monster Mosquitos on Sullivan's Island

Very nice party Saturday night - a most picturesqes setting on the water-- you expected to see Pat Conroy come around the corner with a beer in his hand at any minute. There was lowcountry boil and all the trimmings, but -- the mosquitos 'most carried us away! My ankles look like I have the measles and it is still keeping me awake at night. Grrrrr!

The bathroom renovation has begun. Pictures soon.

It's a beautiful day for a hurricane

It really is a beautiful day -- and feels just wonderful outside. Check out the WeatherPixie. She's all clear skies and sunshine.

Even so, we’re sort of preparing for Hanna, which is still a tropical storm at this point. Duncan is checking on water and food supplies and calling me about every 3 hours to tell me how long the line is for gas at Costco and other such vital information. I’m more of the mind we’re going to have a rainy day. I just spoke with a neighbor and our plan, if we lose power, is to go to a movie. . . Our family disaster plan sort of breaks down when we think about getting Eloise in a box and in the car.

Picture the Keystone Cops trying to shoo a pissed-off cat into a crate – that’d be us. Picture every place in your house just out of reach -- that’d be Eloise.

Here is Eloise in her preferred comfort zone, looking a bit hung-over but she's really just relaxed and drowsy -- we woke her up to take her picture.