Meet the Mertzes

Well, Eloise completely went off the deep end and got to where she not only wouldn't come in the house but she wouldn't even stay around our door. She took up on other neighborhood decks. We worried, we fretted, we passed cans of cat food out to neighbors who were "hosting" her but there was nothing she would let us do for her. So I told Duncan I wanted a new cat -- one that we were sure would be a good lap cat.

We ended up with two -- a brother and sister, 10 years old, declawed, sort of plump, big sleepers, and they don't mind being picked up and cuddled. Perfect. Since they are older and a bit frumpy, we named them Fred and Ethel.

Fred

Ethel

The Charleston Animal Society made a big deal about wanting them adopted together because they had always been together but we have discovered they don't really like each other all that much. Ethel is definitely alpha and sometimes out of the blue she'll pounce on ole Fred and they'd yowl and round around in the floor then shoot off in different directions and act like nothing happened.

Last week we looked out the back door and wouldn't you know it, there was Eloise! Ethel fluffed her tail up real big and started hissing, Fred started prowling around with his tail all fluffed up and Eloise blew her tail up to 3 times its normal size while she held her ground. Uh-oh. . . Busted!

I'm sorry Eloise, but we tried to do everything we could for you. You are welcome to be the porch cat. I promise you will eat well. But Fred and Ethel are the indoor cats now and we simply will not allow you to come in and rip their throats out.

Eloise has come around several more times after that. We've always taken food out to her and the three cats have paid less and less attention to each other each time. So, we're going to make this work -- awkwardly, but it's going to work.

Happy Easter

Debbie sent me this card last Easter. It still cracks me up.

Fried Green Tomatoes has been pretty quiet lately. I've been trying to keep the Fiber Guild's blog somewhat current and interesting -- it's been hard to find time to even do that.

We went to Black Mountain a couple of weeks ago to inter Debbie's ashes at the columbarium at Christmont. Sad, but also good to do that in that way sad things can be good.

A funny thing from that weekend was that we asked our neighbors Dennis and Becky to feed Eloise while we were gone. Of course, Eloise wouldn't come in the house when we were ready to leave, so Duncan called Dennis and told him she was outside, but would probably be waiting on the step when they went to feed her. After we had been home for a few days, Dennis admitted to Duncan that he came over and there was a cat on the steps, but he realized he didn't know what Eloise looked like! This first cat ran off along the creek bank and then Eloise appeared and somehow acted enough like she owned the place for Dennis to let her in. We'll have to start leaving a picture on the refrigerator. This is a nice one.

Mom came back to Charleston with us after the weekend in the mountains. We didn't do much to show her the town, but she spruced up my flower pots and ferns, cooked some wonderful meals, and had a taste of early spring before leaving yesterday in time to see early spring in Cary.

I'm hoping we'll get to Person County in late April and maybe get to see early spring there as well. There is a method to our madness.

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??

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.