Always remembered: Gershwin. 1996-2013

Gershwin was born in 1996, he came to me in January 1997 as a 2-month-old kitten. He joined the white poofy kitty, Charlie, as well as Allie in the house. Paddy followed later that year.

His name became clear early on - with his piano-key white/black/white/black toes on all four paws. He was always dressed in a tuxedo and had grace and dignity.

A friendly and social cat, he was always the first kitty to greet visitors, rubbing and head butting them. His particular favorite was to hop up on the sofa behind you and head-butt the back of your head. I think he knew my mother doesn't care for cats because she was an object of extra attention whenever she visited. Over time, he grew on even her. He worked his charms.

He was a crowd pleaser at parties and our pet sitters always enjoyed his company.

All of my cats live indoors. Gershwin has always been an avid bird watcher. He would sit in the window and "hunt" from the windowsill. Poised, tense, tail swishing and making the characteristic hunter-chatter. His chatter was especially recognizable and endearing, earning him the nickname of "Twitter Kitty." Occasionally he would grace us with his hunter-chatter for the feather flirt pole as well if we made it sufficiently enticing.

In the early morning when everyone else (my husband) was still asleep, he would jump up on the kitchen counter to supervise my making dog breakfast. He would steal a few kibbles and I would pretend to be annoyed but really just laugh at the cat who loved dog food.

Gershwin was always game for catnip or catnap, whatever the situation presented. Agreeable and easy to handle, he was a blood donor in his youth, giving blood at the vet to help save the lives of critically ill kitties who came into the hospital where I work. He was the first cat I clicker trained and was wonderfully clever.

While I was in school, he would lie patiently beside me on the sofa, keeping me company and prodding me for attention from time to time saving me from the black hole that is writing undergraduate papers.

Last week after a few days of not eating his full ration, Gershwin earned himself a trip to the vet. Several days of tests led to the conclusion he had developed high-grade lymphoma. He had a good last few days at home, getting plenty of extra attention and delicacies to tempt his appetite. Today we helped him pass quietly to spare him any further suffering.

We will miss him very much.

2

Two years have passed since two important events befell our family. One heartwarming, one heartbreaking... both evoke the same emotions even after two long years.

On 14 December 2010, Rye was born. 

Happy 2nd birthday, Rye! You make us smile every day!

On 17 December 2010, Paddy left us.

My heart still aches with loving memories, Paddy.

These events will remain inextricably linked in my mind and my heart.

Howl-o-ween!

So the original Dogzilla was puppy Paddy. Here is Dogzilla v. 2.0.

Then there is Princess Magick who is pleased to be the center of attention.

Alas, poor Zora has the.meanest.mom.ever.

Apparently, Dogzilla's life is exhausting because he fell asleep during his photos! Lucy got a bye on the costume photos since she doesn't really care for having her photo taken :)

International Hug A Sheep Day!

Two years ago, Punkin's Patch started Hug A Sheep Day! Being that I enjoy sheep but am not normally a "sheep hugger," I was skeptical. Alas, this year Jenny convinced me. After all, they even did a story about it on the Today Show's website!

So I set out this morning on my mission to get a photo for hug a sheep day. Rain clothes, a warm hat and my iPhone in its waterproof case in hand, I headed out to the farm. I had in my head that the hug-ee would be Badger, AKA 1203. She was the single lamb of my katahdin ewe who survived a dog attack last November. As a side bonus, she is quite cute.

Phase 1 of the plan: Explain Hug a Sheep Day to the ewe and catch her up. Badger was entirely unconvinced that this is a real holiday and was not impressed with my explanation. A true skeptic, she required convincing, so I called in some reinforcements.

Lucy helps Badger see the wisdom in my plan...

Once the reinforcements arrived, I was able to move to phase 2 of the plan: capture Badger.

Ha! Gotcha, Badger! She still looks unimpressed...

Phase 3 of the plan: Somehow get a photo of me and Badger in the same frame without a timer-set shutter or tripod. I decided to give Badger a nice hug around the neck and then stretch my other arm out as looooooong as I could. Looks like my arm was just barely long enough!

Success! Badger hugged, captured on film! Well, on iPhone at least. 

I am thinking my sheep are pretty glad this holiday comes only once a year. I told Badger she is lucky it was only Hug A Sheep Day and not Halloween, otherwise who knows what might have happened! I think she would look quite dashing in a set of devil horns ;)