One cat household

So, those of you on FB know that we lost Bonspiel. She was the matriarch of the house and ruled all the other cats. Nobody messed with her, even the kitten got his ears pinned back a couple of times while she was still fiesty. At the end she was not so fiesty. History of cats to follow so stop reading if you don't care.

In the beginning (when I moved to CT to marry Mrs. JH) there was Bonspiel and Domino. She had Bonspiel (hence referred to as Bomps cause that is shorter to type) and I brought Domino with me. The first two nights we were together, I slept on the couch. Seems Bomps always slept in bed with Mrs and of course Domino always slept with me. However, the bed (and fighting zone) was not big enough for the two of them. So, off to the couch with the Domino I went. They eventually figured it out and things grew relatively quiet.

A couple of years passed and someone decided we needed a kitten. I blame ours friends and scotch. At an Ardsley curling club party, there was a picture of a cute kitten. Mrs immediately started buying me scotch to listen the tongue to the yes word. Well it worked and Snickle (the baby) entered the house. Bomps loved him, Domino not so much. Bomps decided he was her baby and would groom him and curl up with him. Domino would hiss and spit at the Poodle (who knows where he got that name) and the Poodle would just ignore that and jump on Domino. It all quieted down mostly.

The most stressful times were "daddy lap times". I would settle in to the comfy chair to watch TV and it became a contest for the lap. Both Domino and Bomps would want to be there. Poodle would be content with curling up by my feet. Having two cats (both 15+ pounds) fight over your lap is not really that much fun. Things always worked out. One would end up pouting on top of the couch or somewhere.

At the end of 2008, we lost Domino. At 17 or so, it was a long life. Then we lost the Poodle in the summer to what we think was a brain tumor. No life left in him at the end. This week we lost Bomps, who slipped away quietly one day.

Now, we are left with the nutball who is Skippy. Part Domino, part dog, mostly crazy. He makes us laugh every day. He has not yet found the joy of curling up in my lap but that will happen. Took Poodle almost 5 years to be a lap cat. He will curl up with Mrs on the couch if I am not here. All the better to protect her as he is known to growl when a strange noise happens.

I am sure that sometime in the not so distant future there will be another addition to the family. For now we will enjoy the "quiet" that one cat provides.

Later,
JH

Rudolph the red faced sweeper

What happens when you get bored


Rudolph the red-faced sweeper,
had a very bad delivery
and if you ever saw him
you would say he sucks

All of the other curlers
used to laugh and call him names
they never let poor Rudolph
curl in any important games

Then one tied up extra end
Santa came to say
Rudolph with your face so bright
Please make sure my draw is not light

Then all the curlers loved him
and they shouted out with glee
Santa the draw miester skip
You'll go down in history

(it is all about the skip, after all)

Merry Christmas

To all the invisible readers out there. Merry Christmas!

Santa made an early stop last night and dropped off lots of needed things. Some new toys for the camera and the workshop.

Off to NJ for a couple of days and then home to pack for a one day trip to DC. Have to squeeze in a project down there around the one in NJ. More writing which is not really my strong suit.

Curling returns after the New Year with mixed playdowns at the club. Lots of work on the ice for that. Also have to get the team together for some practice time.

Merry Christmas to all!
JH

First snow of the year

The first snowfall of the year. Makes it look like Christmas. Might even make it feel like Christmas. It started late in the day which was good and bad. Good that the party we attended last night did not get cancelled. Bad in when we got home from the party the driveway was not easy to navigate. After 5 or 6 attempts to make it up the hill which serves as the driveway finally got the car to a point where it could be parked. Not really in the driveway but more on the grass. Good thing the ground is frozen. Should be a lot of fun trying to get it moved and parked for real. At least it stayed there overnight.

The driveway is pretty steep. So steep that I need to wear ice fishing spikes on my boots to use the snow blower. So steep that the previous owner had to put in a pull off at the top after their car slid down the driveway one night. Seems they had parked it as normal, just straight up the drive. Overnight it was a freezing rain which got under the tires. The next morning the car was across the street in the neighbors yard. Just slid down the hill, across the street, over the mailbox and into the yard.

I came pretty close to recreating that last night on one attempt at the driveway. Made it almost to the top and slid back down. Was able to veer away from the mailbox and just hit the curb on the far side of the street.

But it is pretty out there right now. And I get to play with the snowblower later.

Later,
JH

The year in review

So, looking back through the year it was not a great one. Too many people leaving this orb. It seems it was a year when death was the theme. But can't dwell on that.

There were a few highlights. I made it to a National curling event for the first time and probably the last. Maybe all that curling last year just took the last bit of non-pain out of the knees. The "good" knee (the one that wasn't scoped) bothers me most days now. We had a couple of wonderful vacations in Canada and LBI. The Phillies made the World Series again and I even got to see them play at the new Yankee stadium.

The lowlights did seem to dominate the postings. Death, work, rants about this and that. Maybe I am getting to be a cranky old man. Might be time to step away from some things that just don't make me happy anymore. Have to figure out how to do that.

Work has just dominated the house the last couple of months. Too much travel for both of us. Little time to just enjoy being upright and breathing. The yard and flowers suffered greatly this summer. We spent very little time sitting on the screened in porch.

Another year has passed and a new one is just around the corner. Turn over a new leaf and move on. Happy holidays to all whatever they might be. See you in '10.

Later
JH

Tis the holiday season

Time to go get the tree and decorate the house a bit. Christmas has once again snuck up on us. Just finished up the cards to be mailed out. I have done exactly zero shopping. Have to get something so the tree is not empty.

Was looking back as I do each year at prior postings. I really fell apart in the fall. Need to figure out what happened so I can put together the holiday blog. It was a tough year I guess. Work seems to have gotten in the way of a lot of things.

The holiday post, which I know you all look forward to, should be up this weekend.

Later,
JH