animal lovers... cat squad pics

Since I haven't done so in a while and was cleaning out pictures, I thought it might be fun to share some of the most recent pics of the cats. I'm also taking a break from editing Book 20 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. The first round of edits is halfway done and different than most first rounds of edits--I'm hitting the ground running as if already in my usual second round of edits.

Anway, here's a series of cat pics for the animal lovers:

The old boy has become pretty tolerant of Bilbo.

a rare moment of our torbie tolerating being close
to one of the boys (torties/torbies are always girls)

Bilbo content in daddy's arms

The two tuxedos (blue and brown) bird watching

They love their catio, which has an opening so they can
 freely move in and out between the house and the catio.
Only the two big boys--the old Siamese and Bilbo--lay in the hammocks.

The trio of oldsters. They love the cat cabinet (which was designed
for litter boxes but which became their toy box and also their window
ledge, with a pet pad added for comfort).

Bilbo has fully settled in. He's been with us for over eight months and it's like he's always been here. Ironically, the one cat that liked him least--the oldest, our Siamese--is the one usually snuggling next to him, albeit reluctantly. Nevertheless, the Siamese is the most likely to allow Bilbo to lay next to him.

And Bilbo is a daddy's boy (the person holding him in the one pic).

Rosebuds

I've had a lot on my mind lately, and it's a mixed bag of emotions.

Family matters:

It's been rough for us since Friday evening. My father-in-law (and I love him and my mother-in-law dearly) is dying. Since he was checked into the hospital Friday, he's lasted longer than originally expected, but we know there will be a funeral very soon. I get teary thinking of the situation. I've known my in-laws for nearly twenty-five years; although at that early stage they were only potential in-laws since hubby and I weren't yet even engaged at that point. They accepted me readily and have always been welcoming. FIL was a farmer most of his life and always had a lot of advice about any construction projects for the home or for gardening issues. He loved to woodwork, and we have some of his handy and/or decorative projects, including a paper towel dispenser attached under the kitchen cabinets and stained to match the color perfectly.

It's been difficult and I try to stay busy or I get choked up like the sisters-in-law. It must be a woman thing. Hubby and his brother are keeping it together, although so is my mother-in-law, but she's had a long time to prepare for this. It wasn't unexpected, but it did progress suddenly quite fast.

Writing:

I have been getting writing done and am down to the final two scenes now of the story. Yay! The story came together perfectly with an ending that ties into the opening fun scene but is very serious by the end incident. There's a discovery that will add to understanding the Issan a bit more, and the Inari get more involved, especially since one of the discoveries is an abandoned, hidden Inari outpost similar to Kurtuz but set up so that it has remained undisturbed. It wasn't intended to be abandoned and bears a grim reason.

The book is currently 47K words, so past the point I thought I'd finish. Now, I'm guessing it'll be closer to 50K words in the first draft. The writing is somewhat keeping my mind off of FIL.

Progress is being made towards the final series ending.

Roses:

And just as my FIL is dying, my first rosebud is opening. I don't doubt he would have enjoyed seeing this, being the gardener that he was. I planted three bushes in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity (She is the child of the Father, spouse of the Holy Spirit, and mother of God the Son).

The first plant with buds developed three buds, which is perfect. All three buds are developing and all three plants are taking off with leaves; two plants actually have buds, including the one now blooming. The first one started budding within a week of being transplanted, which is miraculous, but I don't doubt Our Lady of the Rosary had something to do with that.

That's my life right now. I am writing, and it's helping me to take my mind off the death of someone special.

God bless you and your loved ones! Treasure every moment.

Thanks for reading.

the latest happenings, including writing updates

Summer is here. It came pretty fast, but everything goes faster as you get older.

Horsing around again

Life and weather, and dangerous smoke from Canadian wildfires (last weekend was awful!)... combined to keep me from seeing my horse for longer than I would have liked. Yesterday, I finally went to see him again. He's in a pasture at the boarding facility, has fresh water and friends and gets checked on, so I don't have to worry. He's a tough boy and knows how to cope.

I trimmed his hooves, which were just starting to get long but not terrible and had no chipping or cracking yet. The big issue was a bunch of ticks under his anus (and, I suspect, the same with other pasture horses who were rubbing and rubbing to no relief). My poor guy was miserably irritated by a cluster of ticks. They are terrible this year! I doused them and the rest of him in a strong bug repellant before trimming his hooves and managed to find someone who wasn't squeamish about ticks to pull them all off. Buddy was so relieved afterwards and almost fell asleep with no more flies or ticks irritating him. He enjoyed the process of having the ticks removed too; his expressions through it were hilarious. 🤣

I didn't ride him. I knew I'd be sore after trimming hooves, and riding after that long would only compound my soreness. I started feeling it last night and still feel achy today. I gave Buddy treats, love, and a hoof trimming. He enjoyed that. No work. He's a pasture pet, but he enjoys it and is good when I do get on. Since I'm not competing, we can take it easy. I hope to get out more regularly, but then stuff happens, some of it the same stuff that interferes with my writing.

Cats and crystals

I thought only male cats had issues with bladder crystals.

Nope.

We noticed our old girl (13 years) had bloody urine. Our oldest cat (male) as a kitten did that and had to be put on a special diet for a while, then grew out of it before developing other issues that required him to be on an even more restrictive diet. Boy cats have narrow urethras and are more prone to crystal issues. But female cats can have urinary crystal problems too. I didn't expect that. They just don't have the same trouble with blocked urethras that boys do. A blocked urethra happened to the other old boy (third oldest) several years ago, and he would yowl while in the litterbox and continually lick his sheath area. That clued us in then that he also had crystal issues, but he was already in later maturity when it became an issue for him.

Now, we have three cats who have to be on special food. Only the newest is free to eat anything... so far.

The good news is that our girl, for as old as she is, has healthy kidneys and no infection. None of our kitties are diabetic. They may not like the special foods for their issues, but they're healthier and happier than the alternative. A day after switching to the special foods given to the old boys, she was already getting back to being her chipper self (*sarcastically speaking* - she has tortitude in full!). She was playing again, instead of grumping around in pain. I expect this will clear up quickly for her.

We only knew she was having issues because of a couple of times that she urinated outside the litterbox and it was bloody. It was difficult to confirm which cat it was initially because we have four, but the boys have never gone outside the litterbox. Still, we had to wait until we could observe it so we wouldn't be paying for multiple cats to unnecessarily be taken to the vet.

We caught it and only had to change her diet. She's already doing better, so yay!

Light and Shadows

That is the title I'm sticking with on Book 22 of Forgotten Worlds. The word count is around 30K now and I'm hoping to finish by the end of the month, but that only holds up if life doesn't get in the way.

I still need to figure out a cover, but I know what would work. I just have to find the right image, or multiple images and compile it. It may take some Photoshop work to get something more representative of this story. 

Print Books

Since I read through Forgotten Worlds books 1-10, I fixed some things that I couldn't leave alone. (Book 6 was a mess, like the final edits didn't save or got overwritten until this update. I'm still beside myself since discovering that in the read-through this past year because the bad version was the one that had been available for a few years.)

I love reading my books, but I always see something to tweak. I started reading as a refresher and knew there would be some fixes. Updates have been uploaded for the individual ebooks. I just need to update the print files. I have the print collections for this series unavailable until the updates are ready. It hasn't been a big priority, since print doesn't usually sell for me, and I hate formatting those.

It's something I do plan to finish this summer, at least for Collections 1 and 2 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. I'm still working my way through books 11-15 when I have time. Once those are done, I'll re-release Collection 3 as well.

--------------

That's all for now. I'll post more when I have updates, like a book cover.

Thanks for reading!

Catching up

It's been less than two weeks since I (finally!) published All the King's Men. In the time since, I've been reading through the next two books to catch up before starting the writing of Book 22.

When I catch up on my progress, I do some editing and make notes of anything I think needs particular attention for the deep dive edits (aka developmental edits). My assessment so far is that Darkest Depths won't likely need much rewriting. However, Armor will be a beast to edit. It's a complicated back and forth story that gave me some issues in writing it and, although not as long as Book 19 (the longest of all the books in this series and one that feels like it could have been written to be twice as long, but I didn't want to get over complicated on the story). Book 21 has a complex setup of present action amid flashbacks to previous scenes in the series and some new flashbacks, as well as flashbacks to the setup, such as I used in Book 4. It's a weird hodge-podge of flashbacks and very intricate timing on those flashbacks so I don't give away the plan too soon. It's complicated, but that's why it will require some big time editing when the time comes.

For now, I'm making notes (using Word comments and a separate notes file to address more detailed thoughts) for editing consideration. I may attempt some rewrites on Book 21 now to address the bigger issues I already see so I have less to do when the time comes for full-on edits, but I want to get back to writing too.

I hope to start working on Book 22 by the end of next week. With 25 books planned in this series, I'm in the homestretch now. Book 22 will still be a bit of a side adventure, although those are now all focused on reaching the series climax. A few of the early books were more for fun and getting to know characters and the setting (social-cultural, political, trade, species, technology, etc.), everything from this point is targeted towards the finale, like most of the books in the series. I describe each book as a chapter of one large book (like Babylon 5). They all build on one another, even the few thrown in just for the fun of it. As L'Ni tells Nya, I use everything; there's something in each book that advances the series. No story is wasted.

And for fun, something extraordinary happened at our house this morning--all four cats lined up for the perfect picture! This has never happened before, but the spring return of birds to the yard caught their attention so all had to get a good look.

Meow!

Thanks for reading!

Happy Catturday... animals

This weekend is a weekend of reading. I hope this is the last round of edits on Book 19 of Forgotten Worlds.

While I'm doing that, I often end up now with two cats. And when the weather is nice (not this weekend), I've been getting out to ride my horse. So I have a bit of that too to share.

First up is a video of Buddy sucking his tongue, a weird thing he does once in a while. He was shedding when I was last out too. It's that season, when I start wearing a fur coat on my way home. I trimmed his hooves to start and was so sore afterwards (think power squatting for long periods of time with weights and pulls!) that I just did a little trail riding on the boarding property. He was good for that.

"My bucket is empty, Mom!"

Next up is Bilbo being a cat model this morning showing his different sides.

Big yawn

And the old man is accepting Bilbo better. These were taken earlier in the week when I was editing. Dargo curled up next to me and Bilbo wanted to be there too but respected Dargo's space. They laid next to me for an hour without any issues and Dargo was more and more comfortable with being close to Bilbo and by the end stretched out as much as he could. Bilbo has always been respectful of his elder housemates--not an ounce of aggression in him!--but they've taken time to accept him.

Not sure about this, but a good start

Getting more comfortable

Completely comfortable

Suki decided to enjoy her corner of the dining room rug this morning too to satisfy an itch on her back.

I thank God that in sending us a new cat, He sent us Bilbo. He couldn't have sent us a stray any better behaved. Bilbo has been a perfect gentleman, other than wanting to engage the old kitties in play when they don't want to play. Now that all three senior kitties have had their teeth cleaned and their mouths have healed from extractions, they're a lot less moody. But Bilbo has also been living nearly four months in our house.

That's it for now. Time to get back to editing.

God bless!

Fur babies and fun

I haven't posted about the critters in a while and have some new pics and a video to share.

First, Bilbo is coming up on his third 3 in the adoption adjustment. He's three months indoors now and very comfortable with the household.

I'd say he's pretty cozy being carried, but he always was, just not quite what the pic below demonstrates. There's no way he wasn't a pet when he was younger. One person's trash is our treasure. He has a furever home now and a routine. Every night he sleeps between hubby and I near our pillows. Hubby is holding him awkwardly in the pic (carried him like this up the stairs to the main level), but the big boy didn't care, although he's usually a bit unsure when you first pick him up if you don't support his feet.

He's a big baby. And I mean BIG (for a non-Main Coon)--15 pounds of pure muscle. Apple AI suggests chartreux. He's just a mixed breed of something, but he's about the right size, base coloring, eye color, and temperament, so maybe a mix. However, I couldn't find any breeders in the area and doubt they would mix such a rare breed to produce a tuxedo like Bilbo.

And here's our old man, the other "O" boy (Dargo), who used to be the biggest cat in the house but is now second biggest and remains the oldest and the only papered kitty (TICA-registered Siamese, now Thai cat). He has health issues that are closely managed, but at his age, you expect that:

I've been playing with the different settings on my new iPhone.

I took this video this past Sunday of Buddy enjoying a post-ride treat. He was goofing off like he does with the bucket, until he noticed me recording. 🙄

I hope the video shows up. Otherwise, I took still pics too:

We had a good ride before this. It was a beautiful day (nearly 50 F), an 80 degree difference from the minus thirty-something Farenheit cold just 5-6 days earlier! We rode inside, but the good weather brought out a LOT of boarders and we had to wait for room to ride. In that wait, the calming supplement took effect, so by the time I got on, he was in a good state of mind, a complete turnaround from the roaring dragon he started as when we entered the indoor arena. Something about the western pleasure show riders training their horses was freaking him out, even though he can tolerate watching mounted shooting outside in the summer. No clue what got into him. 🤷  At least the calming supplement worked. (He's nervous in the indoor arena, so I try to stack the deck in my favor, so to speak, by doing what I can to help him calm down so I'm less likely to get hurt. Quietex II works wonders for him.)

We're heading into shedding season, so I expect my trips out will soon end up with me wearing more of his winter coat than he does.

Anyway, that's what's going on in the four-legged/fur-baby side of life.

I don't know when I'll next have other updates. I go in spurts. I've had a lot going on lately and thought I'd share with readers.

God bless!

books and cats... and horse

I'm not quite done with Book 21. It's currently at 48K words, already longer than I anticipated. PLUS, the Hashimoto's flared up right on cue to delay me finishing this project, and when that happens to the degree it did, I just can't write. I can copyedit, but my brain isn't sharp enough to remember details and the lack of sleep only compounds it. That took the whole week to recover with very little writing getting done, and what was done needed immediate rewriting. Fortunately, I think I know what caused this flare and won't do that again!

So, not where I wanted to be by this weekend. I wanted to be finished. That didn't happen.

On the other hand, I did finish entering edits on Book 5 and uploaded the minor changes. I can get that kind of work done when the combo of thyroid issues and a wonky immune system collide into a perfect storm. I can also get a lot done at the day job. Next, I need to get to work on updating the print omnibus of books 1-5 and get that back online for sale.

And I finally had the perfect day to ride my horse today. I haven't felt this much like myself in a long time. I hadn't ridden him in about 6 months, although I've been out to give him treats and do groundwork, and it was like I hadn't been off. He's twelve years old now and I've had him for more than nine of those years, so we're pretty familiar with each other. But the same autoimmune issues that interrupt my writing also interrupt my riding. Today, everything came together--weather (around 40 F and 0 wind, which was gorgeous), other riders (he's better when a paturemate is also in the arena), and me feeling good. I needed that! I'll be sore for the next few days, but it was worth it.

And for lack of sleep, that's partly on the cats. Bilbo has been deciding that he likes to sleep at the top of my head and partly on my head, which is terrible for my neck. Plus I usually have a cat at my feet. And I can end up with one or more completing the box on either side of me. The worst is when they come walking on me in the wee hours of the morning and then I can't go back to sleep. It doesn't happen every night, but with four cats, there's usually one waking me at some point, hopefully not until close to when I need to get up for the day. My husband sleeps through all of it.

Also, now when I want to write, there are times that I have two cats. I can deal with my old boy next to me, but Bilbo never wants to stay next to me. He always wants a lap, and he's still learning to respect the laptop. So, I'll call the hubby to take him. Bilbo was supposed to be his cat. I have mine.

Oldest kitty loves Our Lady of Guadalupe
blanket, or at least the fuzzy side, even more
than my pink winter bathrobe.

This past month, two of our cats had high vet expenses from going off their food and then us discovering they needed their teeth cleaned. One of them had an abscessed tooth that was extracted. They now have matching "bracelets" of shaved hair (seen in pic) where the IVs were while they were sedated for the procedures. (Bilbo's shaved hair is nearly grown out from his IV during his neutering two months ago.) The oldest two are completely back to their old selves, so things are good again.

Now, back to writing... or time for oldest's felimazole, then writing. It's been quite the week and I'm finally feeling more like myself and able to focus again.

Life is busy, but life would be dull if it wasn't.

God bless!

this, that, and some of those

I thought I'd post an update on a few things...

Cats

The cats have been expensive this month! The oldest two have each had periods of anorexia aka not eating. When cats don't eat for over a day, they go downhill pretty quickly. They're very sensitive creatures. It's hard to get them eating once they go off their food. The trick is figuring out what is causing inappetence and resolving it.

Two oldest kitties who have had health issues recently

Urgent care veterinary visits aren't cheap, but our kitties recovered with the right medications to stimulate their appetites, relieve pain, and recover their electrolytes (through subcutaneous fluids). Each was a little different in what worked, but our torbie had a tooth abscess that seems to have been resolved with an extraction and teeth cleaning. The Siamese (aka Thai cat) will have his teeth cleaned on Monday; we'll see what they find since he had his teeth cleaned a few years ago and had four teeth extracted at that time.

These two are 14 (Siamese) and 12 1/2 (torbie) years old. In searching for answers, I learned that dental care is a major cause of not eating in senior cats. From experience, I learned that bad breath is a good indicator that something is wrong with their teeth. The third oldest (10 1/2 hears old) will need his teeth cleaned too. He's showing signs of mouth pain, but he'll have to wait since we spent way too much money on the oldest two this month.

In other news, Bilbo has settled in pretty well. I currently have my old momma's boy (the senior Siamese) next to me while Bilbo is half on my lap--without any issues. Bilbo should be hubby's cat and often is, but for some reason, when I'm home and sitting on the loveseat, he wants my lap. He's a big boy and hasn't yet learned not to lay on my laptop. He's getting better, but he still has to be in my way. Fortunately, I pushed him down this time and he laid that way to be only partly on my lap, so I can type this with my laptop out of his way.

Household

All the pet issues came on top of the dryer not working. Fortunately, it only needed a piece replaced and the repairman knew immediately what it was. Unfortunately, we had to pay a hefty fee for the repair visit while the piece to replace cost about a tenth of that. It's cheaper than a new dryer but, added to the pet costs, makes for a very expensive month.

Forgotten Worlds

The first draft of Book 21 of Forgotten Worlds is nearly done. It's at 44K words and I have just a few scenes left. I expect to finish by the end of this month with it around 47K, although I do have to contend with health issues that can interfere with my plans.

The book is turning out better than expected. I'm always amazed when that happens, although I should know by now that the harder a story seems to be to write, the more I work on it and the better it actually ends up being (at least in my opinion, probably because I'm comparing to what I thought it would be in quality).

And I've finished rereading Book 5. I'll be uploading the updates soon, minor as they are. I'm really enjoying the reread and appreciating the refresh while going into the final stretch of this series. What concerns me are the little things that slipped past me in later books, so this reread is very helpful in that regard, because I'm making notes and fixing things and adding to my wiki file for reference.

Next up, I'll need a cover for ARMOR. Finding a cover image for that could be difficult, given the setting of it.

Writing a first draft description for Book 20 also needs to be done.

So much to do; so little time.

Life (and writing) goes on.

God bless!

Bilbo is a total lap hog

I said it to my family before Bilbo was ever brought in the house--he is a lap hog. He's also becoming a bit of an attention-whore.

It took some encouragement for him to get comfortable sitting in our laps when we're comfortably on furniture, but he's more frequently climbing into laps. He's never had a problem when we were on the floor, but he wasn't sure about getting up on furniture.

As I type this, he's lounged in a circle of my legs and hanging over my thigh while I balance my laptop on the arm of the loveseat where I'm sitting. He invited himself up. We no longer have to invite him up by lifting him. He's helping himself to the luxury of a warm lap.

And one more event happened that shows just how well he's fitting in. Today, Jack pounced on Bilbo and wrestled him. No hissing or growling, but Bilbo was left dumbfounded after Jack zipped away from his exuberance. All the other cats growl or hiss at Bilbo when he wants to play with them, but then Jack decided to go ahead and play. It ended as quickly as it began, but that's a start. Jack was wary a short time later when he came back and Bilbo was watching him.

Four weeks in the house. Only four weeks. Everyone is adjusting far faster than I expected, considering the older cats range from 9-14 years and those three came to us as kittens, so they've all had many years in our house.

And I took this yesterday:

All three boys were in our bedroom snoozing in close vicinity like it was something they'd been doing all along. They all settled this way while I was praying the Divine Mercy chaplet, and Bilbo once again laid close to where I was kneeling.

He's better about entertaining himself with toys and is pretty funny when he does, but he does have to learn that body parts are not toys. Our older kitties all learned while fairly young not to attack our hands or feet or arms. He's having to learn as an adult, but he's a smart boy, very smart.

He's also starting to clean himself more often and better. I hope that continues. I'd prefer not to have to bathe him.

Bilbo's such a sweetheart that I just can't believe no one was looking for him. However, I looked at the local online marketplace again, and there are people reporting found cats as I did with him and no one claiming them. There are also a lot of listings of cats for sale or giveaway.

We received an early Christmas present when he came to us. He's turned into the gift that we didn't know we needed.

To all of you and your families (including the four-leggeds), have a warm, joyous Christmas! 🎄

Bilbo... week 4

Bilbo continues to adjust well. 

A day after my last post, Bilbo got the zoomies for the first time and was playing with toys himself and running through the house. He wanted to play with the others, but they still weren't having any of it. It was funny to hear his trill and see him zipping after an imaginary prey like the old cats do (less often than they used to).

Later the same day, he got into the treat game. We throw treats and they run to get them before the other kitties get them, although we generally try to throw them towards one cat or another and it usually works out well, unless they're not paying attention and one of the others is. Bilbo went from not knowing what to do to running after treats.

A few days later, he didn't want anything to do with those treats. 🤷‍♀️

He's rarely under anything anymore. In fact, he seems to like sleeping on the dining room chairs (cushioned) or out in the middle of the floor. He likes to stretch out that big body of his and seems to get too warm too easily, unlike the others who curl up like pill bugs. He doesn't even mind the sound of the air-popper and popcorn popping. Things like that don't even make him blink anymore, although the vacuum is as scary to him as it is to any cat and he doesn't like the rustling of our winter coats.

He's starting to jump more when he plays too. I think he's getting a feel for the laminate flooring throughout the house; laminate legs, you might call it. He doesn't jump like the middle two kitties yet, but he's getting more air time, so maybe he doesn't have an injury. Rather, maybe he just doesn't like the lack of traction.

He's picky, though, about his food. He has been since the beginning. I even tried Tiki cat treats and he turned his nose away while the others wanted the pasty goo.

The other cats are getting more trusting of him. The oldest is getting closer without hissing or growling. There have been a few swipes from the old guy, but Bilbo mostly lets it go like water off a duck's back. He's just too lazy and laid-back to care much, although he does give the others wider berths at times because of their signs of not liking him.

I wish he would be less lazy, at least enough to clean himself better. His coat is getting oily and flattened. We may have to give him a bath. He does clean himself a little, just not enough and not everywhere.

He also has moments when he doesn't want any attention and times when he's clingy for attention. Friday evening (two days ago), I was sitting at the kitchen counter and he jumped up on the stool next to me to climb into my lap. He laid his head on my arm or pressed his forehead into my arm and purred the loudest I've ever heard him. (This morning, he did the same thing and got to a point of attacking my arm--this time, he wanted to get me to play.)

And later, oldest seemed to want to play with Bilbo. It was brief but the spark was there, then Bilbo didn't know how to react and walked away. Things could be happening that we didn't expect for a long time. 😻

This will probably be my last regular update on him unless something new happens. Overall, he's coming out of his shell and is more comfortable in our house, and our other cats are less worried in his presence, even relaxing. 

I wish I could have gotten the picture yesterday (Saturday), but Bilbo saw me and ruined it by moving. The oldest was sleeping on the cat toy cabinet (actually for litter, but that's too messy, so it became their boy box in which they go in and pull out toys to play with) by the bay window and Bilbo was sitting a foot away looking out. Neither seemed to care about the other being so close.

Oldest is usually where Bilbo is--near me--but his second
favorite location is the corner of the bed, as in this picture.

As proof, I was able to get a picture last night. While I was praying my rosary, the two were peaceful and close. Both have a tendency to want to be with me when I'm praying. There's a peace of spirit in prayer that I think they feel and enjoy. Oldest kitty has been my prayer pal since I started on a regular routine. I suspect this is the start of Bilbo joining us.

It helps that, although Bilbo is reasonably young, his energy level is similar to our older kitties. We also have played with them all in the same room and make sure our old kitties get lots of reassurance that we're still here for them. We let them see that, although we accept the new boy, we also still give them our attention.

Great progress in the last week. I expect by spring that we'll be seeing Bilbo snuggling with one or more of the others.

Meow! ("God bless!" in catspeak)

Bilbo update

Adapting to our house is progressing quickly with Bilbo. You wouldn't really know he had been a stray. He wasn't that far in socialization from being a regular housecat to start, but now he's even more like the others. It's been almost three weeks of having him in the house.

• He's climbing into hubby's lap on his own. (He's always loved laps but was reluctant to get up onto the furniture unless we lifted him up.)
• He's exuberant for toys. (And a bit too much wanting the other cats to play with him--they still don't want that.)
• He's learned the feeding routine and knows the sound of the treat bag. (That never takes long. 😉)
• He knows what the water bottle means. (We've used it a few times when he starts hunting the older kitties. It's the only thing that gets his mind off that behavior.)🙀
• He comes to the door when people are coming or going, instead of running away to hide.
• He doesn't hide much anymore or run from normal household sounds or activity. (Once in a while, he does get startled, but it's much less than it used to be and he doesn't flee to hide from us but goes a little distance and stops to look back.)
• He's staying out in the open more near us.

The only issue I see is indications that he may have had a lower back or leg injury. He doesn't like to jump off the ground when playing and remains low, but he does go up and down the stairs and will jump onto the dining chairs (carpeting helps). We even have pet stairs for the old kitties getting up and down from our bed and he uses those instead of jumping up and down. When he does jump, his hid legs don't seem to hold steady but give out a little beneath him.

He returns to the vet the day after Christmas for his second DRC/Leukemia vaccine. Then he'll be done for the year. At that time, I'll have the vet see what they can determine of his back end. He seems to be improving slowly (jumping for the feather toys once in a while), but I'd feel better with them examining him a bit at that time.

Overall, we were very blessed that such a cat found us (as was he to find a good cat-loving home). We weren't looking for another cat, but when the cat distribution system delivers such a wonderful feline, you can't refuse.

Meow!

ps--Adding this pic after my initial posting. They've been eating like this for the last week already. No fights or growls or stealing each other's food, except the usual food steals by middle two from the oldest kitty.

Oldest two eat closest together while third oldest eats by the shredder (pushes his bowl around, so the little corner stops that, and he tends to go after the food of everyone else, although he's learned to wait until we're not looking) and new boy, Bilbo, eats near the dining table on the carpet. Bilbo tends to push himself back while eating, so his back legs always slide back and he has to pull them up close repeatedly while eating. We feed him on the carpet for this reason and to make the oldest kitties more comfortable with eating in his vicinity. Our oldest (Siamese) is the one shorted--he sits back and gives us a forlorn look if anyone starts eating his food. He doesn't do anything to stop them. We usually sit at the counter and watch, since the others do try to steal his food at times. He's a big baby.

Bilbo's progress

I've read there's a general 3-3-3 rule of cat adoption--3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months--each with its general expectations of settling in. I never really paid much attention to time frames with our other cats. Bilbo is ahead of the stages.

He's speeding along in his acclimatization to our household. Only a week after his vet visit, he started playing with toys and scratching on the cat scratchers. It's now been ten days and he's already much less skittish about new sounds and activities and has chosen my husband as his person above all others. Part of that could be due to my encouraging my husband to take Bilbo into his home office at times to avoid potential trouble from our oldest kitty, who still doesn't like him.

Oldest two kitties from months ago, before Bilbo was
ever a visitor, much less a part of the household. I hope
one day Bilbo gets to sleep this close to them.

What's not to like? Alas, I can't make my old momma's boy see reason. He's threatened by a new cat in the house. We do our best to not allow unsupervised freedom. The old cat growls and hisses when Bilbo looks at him but gets up to sniff when Bilbo is looking away.

Bilbo isn't quite familiar with the house rules yet, but he is learning. Today, he jumped into a chair next to hubby, who was eating at the table, and tried to get onto the table. He got scolded and pushed off the table back to the chair, then sat patiently and watched. Then he was rewarded with a little petting for staying down.

Later, he tried scratching on the dining chair's fabric seat. I scolded him and he stopped and didn't return to it. Then I rewarded him with a pet and a "good boy".

Cats can be trained. We've done it at least three times successfully. Bilbo will learn, but since he's still a bit timid in the new environment, we have to be a little milder in our correction than we were with the others. As long as he stops the undesirable activity, the least amount of correction necessary will be used (a harsh "No!" or "Stop!" is generally enough to startle him into stopping the undesired behavior, like clawing furniture, or a "Get down!" like we do with our tortie when she gets on the countertops). Just like with horses, start with light pressure and increase until you get the response you desire; eventually, they learn to respond to the lightest pressure, because they anticipate it getting worse. If a light scold is all it takes to make him quit, that's doing well. Then reward the right behavior.

He's also already eating close enough to the others to learn not to attempt to eat their food. He's tried it, but we push him away and he goes and sits and watches. Our resident cat that was a barn cat wasn't nearly as polite as Bilbo when he first started eating with the others.

It really is that simple. Bilbo is a smart boy. After taking right to the litterbox we provided in his initial confinement, when he was let out into the rest of the house, he found and used the other litterboxes we have. I don't doubt he'll quickly learn the rules.

Since the neuter is healing (no problems there and swelling gone), his eyes are brighter and he's begun cleaning himself like a normal cat again. He's having to decompress from the newness and fear of strange sounds and activities less. He even ventured out to explore the catio with the youngest of our other cats today since the weather was nice enough for them to go out.

In fact, the only thing that's not yet progressing is the relationship between him and our oldest cat.

That will take more time, but with his easy-going personality, I'm sure they'll get along some day.

That'll be an update I'll be excited to share. I wish I knew Bilbo's background, but at least his future looks good.

God bless!

------------

Update 12/8/24: Bilbo doesn't even freak out from hubby's snoring. 😴 

He knows he's home. 🥰

New cat... and other updates

The new cat, Bilbo, has been taking up some of my attention, but he's settling in nicely now that he's feeling a bit better and getting used to our household. Tomorrow marks one week since his vet visit and having his tomhood taken away. He has never growled, hissed, bitten, or scratched at us or the resident cats. He uses the litterboxes and has never sprayed, despite being neutered as an adult. He's only ever clawed on the cat towers with sisal rope. It's like he's been an indoor much-loved cat most of his life, except for one barncat behavior I recognized--he rubbed on the youngest cat, who has been the most accepting of him (no hissing or growling), probably because he was a barncat in a barn full of other cats when we adopted him as a kitten.

We have worked out a way to adapt him to the household. Only one cat, the oldest, is strongly objecting (growling and hissing) to Bilbo's presence yet after we had him out for a couple of days. Since putting Bilbo in the bedroom of our oldest kid, she let Jack (youngest of our three resident cats) in with him, since Jack usually likes her room. I think the fact that Jack is so laid back with other cats has helped Bilbo, although the normal house noises still spook him at times.

We're allowing supervised daytime house outings only and keeping Bilbo in daughter's room at night yet to avoid any unsupervised trouble. It could get really dicey since he prefers to be in our bed, where the oldest two kitties who least accept him usually sleep. How long this process takes until Bilbo fully acclimates to the household and is accepted by all the resident cats is anyone's guess, but I'd bet by Christmas that he'll have the run of the house 24/7; I'm not going to push him, however. He's pretty laid back and adapting well but does get overwhelmed by all the commotion and newness of it, then he retreats to our bathroom/walk-in closet or under our bed to decompress. I don't want him in our room so much until the other cats all accept him.

Bilbo is also starting to play with toys. He was shy about that just a couple of days ago. He's a lazy boy, though, like Jack. I'm sure he could hunt in the wild, or maybe that's the problem--toys move and make sounds but aren't as satisfying as catching a meal. But he gets fed regularly and good food that's really shining up his coat and helping him fill out and gain some weight. He wasn't underweight, but I like a little bit more bulge when looking down my cats than his flat-sidedness.

As for myself, I hadn't been able to write for the last week. I got stuck worse and worse and had anxiety attacks complicated by bringing in a stray cat. I put the symptoms pieces together, however, especially since they eased up as I tapered off the Synthroid... and was right. I went into the walk-in clinic to check into what was going on--my thyroid had become normal or even hyper. (update: I heard back from my regular clinic on this and was told that illness can cause the thyroid to do some things like this. I also just learned that I had been possibly exposed to salmonella from cucumbers at the grocery store; the fever and gut symptoms I'd been having matched that. I suppose that would explain the thyroid issue and the anxiety caused from it. A Hashimoto's flare indeed.)

My creativity and focus have come back now that I've figured things out and am getting over the illness. That was quite a rough ordeal, though. As we say in this part of the country... uff da! I can sympathize with what people with Graves disease must suffer. After a whole day without thyroid meds, I was having major hypo symptoms, however. It's good to not be hyper, but being constantly cold and tired isn't fun either. One more lesson learned.

Now to get past that scene that was blocking me in Book 21. It's finally getting somewhere again. 🥳

Back to writing.

Thanks for reading!

New kitty gets a furever home

He's ours!

No chip. No FIV or FeLV. No fleas. (All as expected)

All vaxxed, neutered, dewormed, and now he does have a chip registered to us and a collar like our other kitties.

New boy is all ours. 🥳

Rodney also got a new name... Bilbo. And he is estimated to be about 2 years old.

Now we have cats named after characters in Farscape, Avatar the Last Airbender, Stargate/Danny Phantom/Pirates of the Caribbean, and (at last) Lord of the Rings. Five years ago, we had one named after a character in Star Wars, but she passed away at the age of 16+.

I brought Bilbo home from the vet this afternoon and he was dying for attention, besides being hungry since he had to have his food taken away by 8 pm last night. I thought he'd hate me for being the one to shove him into the carrier this morning, but I got licks and headbutts. Edit: he's also giving love nips and finally sleeping peacefully now that everything is settled.

Hubby and I got his scent all over us, and since he's clear, no more changing clothes or having to wash hands between him and the other cats. That's... not going too well, but it's only been a couple of days of having him in the house. Youngest boy sniffs and doesn't care. Middle girl is just staying away. The old man, however, is skulking around and hissing at us. He wants to be close to us but doesn't like the smell of a strange cat.

This will take some time. Once they get used to scent mixing, we'll consider face-to-face introductions.

This is going to be a long process, but with patience, we'll get through it.

Officially the newest member of our household

I can't believe we have another cat. It's surreal. I wanted to wait until our old boys and girl had passed away. God had other plans.

new kitty update... T-1 day

Rodney goes into the vet tomorrow for all that he needs done to be our new indoor cat. We will find out then whether we can keep him or have to give him up. We're pretty sure he's healthy, but if he's not, it's going to be heartbreaking, just as it would be if he's chipped. He adopted us.

Getting him into the house yesterday had a couple climactic moments when he freaked out a bit, but he settled down with scratches. Using that, we took our time to lure him into the bathroom we had prepared for him. The other kitties were locked up at the time so there could be no interaction.

Taking in a stray is no small endeavor. He's not feral, however, and prefers human companionship to being alone. In fact, we discovered that, after just a few hours in the bathroom by himself with food, water, a litterbox, and a folded blanket for a bed that he is a completely clingy lap-cat.

When I returned to him after he'd had a few hours to settle down, he had been hiding behind the washing machine and came out with some coaxing. I sat down with my bathrobe on and he climbed into my lap and laid down with front claws kneading gently. I knew he would be a lap-cat but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

This morning, I went down to feed him, being the first one up in the morning, and he came out almost instantly and made a fuss for attention. In fact, he then started to eat while meowing. When I stood up, however, he quit eating. It was like he was saying, "Don't leave! Please, please don't leave me! I want scratches and love. I love you so much!"

Once we get a clean bill of health from FIV/FeLV testing (and if he has no microchip), we can then say he's ours. Unfortunately, if he's positive, he would put the health of the rest of our kitties in danger. He won't go back to the wild, however. I won't do that to him. My youngest kid volunteers at the local humane society, so we'd check with them on other options. He doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body, at least not when interacting with us.

How could anyone have given him up or not be searching for a lost pet? Could you abandon this big snuggly lovebug?

I'm praying for confirmation of a healthy stray boy who gets to stay with us.

As hubby said... The cat distribution system is working.

new kitty

He adopted us and is super lovey but no collar, not fixed, and likely not chipped. He's a stray who came to us about a week ago and stuck around after getting food and water and shelter from the winter storm that we had this past week.

The picture is from some time after the snow had started.

We've been calling this one Rodney (as in McKay from Stargate), since we have a brown tuxedo named Jack (O'Neill, Fenton, Sparrow et al) in the house already. However, a new permanent name is being considered. All strays get a name for identification if they stick around, but a housecat gets a permanent name. Rodney is a gray tuxedo with a chin marking.

He stayed around and started not dashing off when we put food out within days after finding us. In fact, he had been with us just a few days when I put food out and he tried to get in the house rather than running off.

He's not feral. We discovered he is super lovey (loves face and shoulder scratches) and is a purr machine, although still a bit jumpy from loud noises or sudden moves, like he had a home but was abandoned, or maybe he was a tamed barn cat. We live in a country area.

We checked all the lost pet listings for our area and didn't see anything like him, so we made a vet appointment and have a plan for bringing him in. If he is FeLV/FIV negative and isn't chipped, he has a furrever home here. Next Wednesday, he'll be neutered, vaccinated for rabies, and possibly washed for fleas/mites (while sleeping off the anesthesia for neutering), then come home and become an indoor kitty. Joining a household with three other cats will be quite an adjustment for everyone.

We've never done this before, but he's so friendly that we can't leave him to the harsh weather or predators. I suspect he'll become a lap kitty, but we won't know until he settles in.

He found us and we're keeping him if everything works out.

Cats and more

Just for fun, because I haven't done something like this in a while...

the oldest two (12 & 13+ years)

the old man - my prayer buddy
and writing buddy

peekaboo! (the youngest - 9 yrs old)
a rare brown tuxedo (not black)

a dragonfly at the window - they've exploded
in numbers in the last month

a wild turkey family crossing through our backyard after
some heavy rain

All three enjoying a nice day
in their catio from Habitat Haven

Now that I have your attention with all the cats, dragonflies, and turkeys, I'll just say that the writing is progressing, although I'm hitting one of those points of stumbling on the plot a bit. Book 20 is over 27K words and I am having to reconsider some ideas to make this work. I'm planning on editing and publishing Book 18 this winter. I would prefer to finish the first draft of Book 20 before doing that; but, even if I don't, I will get Book 18 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds out before Christmas.

updates - books, indoor garden, and cats

I don't have much of a writing update today. I'm still working on edits of Book 16. It's going more slowly than I hoped, which is why I've at least temporarily deactivated my X account (and maybe permanently). So, I thought I'd add something different about what's been happening lately.

First, I've just uploaded a revision of A NEW BEGINNING. It now includes a note about the [ ] and { } indicators of alien languages. That was the only update to the file. I wanted to make sure new readers understand. Most SFF readers should have some familiarity with using such devices for dialogue translations of fictional other languages, if they've read anything from around the 80's. I saw this in books growing up, which is what gave me the idea to use those to encapsulate translations of fictional languages being spoken by characters where I want the reader to understand it.

Second, I have updated the series description on Amazon. I've tweaked it a couple of times now. It had defaulted to the description of the first book and I left that for a long time. Now, I've given it a brief overview of the series, as well as a note about... Well, why not just let you read it. Here's what it now says:

The truth behind the warrior disciples of an ancient religion is no myth. To stop the ancient evil from being released to destroy the universe, a group of strangers joins together to find the scattered Starfire shards, the only weapon known to defeat the creature. 

Take off with Nya and the strangers who will become her friends on a quest across a galaxy of forgotten worlds where the Starfire shards have been hidden for such a time as this. In the course of their adventures, they will discover secrets that her ancestors left behind and revelations that could shatter the lives of many. 

These books are short novels intended to be read in order. Each book is a complete story but leads into the next. Like chapters in an individual book, each book of this series is a "chapter" in the larger series arc of 25 books.

Note: Although there is some romance in the series, there are no sex scenes. Also, no foul language is used.

I wanted those looking for hard science fiction to realize that this probably isn't what they want. It isn't a porno/swearing fest like so much fiction is these days. It's also not all shoot 'em up war/fighting, and it's not full of broken characters. Sure, each character has their traumas, but they don't dwell on them all the time. I like likable characters and action that's balanced between drama and fighting (or pew pew! as some call it 🙃).

idoo hydroponic garden,
available from Amazon

The series was always written with the intent of going back to the 80's and 90's style SF series, when entertainment didn't punch one in the face with an agenda or sex but, rather, focused on telling stories and the sex was fade-to-black or mentioned in passing so that you knew it was there but not front and center. I've learned there's a name coined for stories without an agenda other than telling a good yarn--ironage. It's not because it's medieval or anything but because of the ironage of storytelling, before the woke agenda ruined entertainment by focusing on pushing a narrative instead of focusing on telling a good story.

(Also, in this description, I'm hinting the title of the final book in the series, Book 25 - FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS. I already know that works for what I have outlined. 😉)

Third, I've had to do some pulling of old lettuce and reseeding in my indoor hydroponics garden. I started the lettuce but haven't had an interest in eating many salads, although it is nice to have our own lettuce instead of store-bought with who knows how many chemicals sprayed on it.

I pulled up two of my larger plants that were looking pretty shredded and not fitting under the light anymore and have new sprouts growing. I'll pull up those last two large plants once the new sprouts take off with enough leaves to start using for salads.

The picture is blurry because it was before the sun rose
and zoomed in from a ways back from the glass deck door
so as not to frighten her. She's pretty skittish.

Fourth, we feed feral cats that come around. Last winter, we had Lenny, but he disappeared come summer. We like to keep outdoor cats around as hunters to keep the mice, gophers, and volls under control. Hubby had made a suitable shelter out of a Rubbermaid container, but I think the latest feral, Remy, felt entrapped in it, so I bought this off Etsy for her. It may not be as cozy warm, but she can eat while sheltered on windy, snowy, or rainy days. While she was reluctant to use hubby's shelter, she was in this within two days of us putting it out for her.

It's a small shelter and the roof is hinged like a lid. If you're interested, here's the link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/226068063/all-season-ark-workshop-medium-outdoor?ref=yr_purchases

Fifth, pay attention to your health. My eyes were giving me problems lately and I hadn't thought to connect it to headaches and tiredness. I made an appointment and, just over a year since my last pair of glasses, ended up needing new glasses again. My eyes are healthy, although the psoriasis around them causes minor issues (easily kept under control with Aquaphor); but my vision has changed dramatically. I wear bifocals, and my old close-up prescription is better for distances now. That's how much my vision has changed. I can't wait to get the new glasses, but that's going to be a big adjustment!

Last, Wednesday, February 14th (Valentine's Day), is Ash Wednesday. For those who honor Our Lord during this season with extra mortification, I pray you achieve the change this season is intended to inspire. I've also been adding to my faith resources page and hope you can find some support there for your faith journey. God bless!

Thanks for reading!

Writing update and cats

I'm still here, but I've been busy and haven't had much to say, except maybe on X/Twitter. I don't post much there either, however. I just don't feel the need to say much.

But I'm writing. Forgotten Worlds book 18 is moving along at a decent pace, but it's definitely not quite what I expected. I have over 24,000 words so far, so past the halfway point. It is a tricky one to write because of the developed relationships between the characters and the new characters of this particular plot.

Potentially, I could finish this book by the new year and then use January to edit Book 16 with an early February release date, but I can't promise that. However, my goal for Book 16, GHOSTS, is February. I just can't say when.

In the meantime, here's a video I shared on X/Twitter. Our youngest cat, Jack, is 8 1/2 years old and he goes on these talking streaks. We don't know what he wants. Once I picked him up for a little bit, he wanted down and took off, so I can only figure out he wanted some attention, just enough to satisfy something.

Cats are funny creatures. (Turn the volume up to hear him talking to me.)

Welcome 2021!

It could get worse than 2020 but I'm an optimist and look forward to a 2021 that will be better than the past year.

I woke up to heavy fog this morning, which has, as of these pictures at 11 am, lightened enough to see more than a few feet away.

The crystalline glow of hoarfrost is always a beautiful remnant of winter fog. Once the fog lifts, that hoarfrost will sparkle and glisten, creating a magical surrealism over the world... until it melts off. It's a beautiful start to the new year!

I'm also glad we finally have snow on the ground. The second half of 2020 was drought for my area. Water tables have lowered and water dugouts for livestock are nearly depleted.  We finally received this snow a few days ago. While it's not enough, we'll take it. It was enough for the kids to have some sledding fun.

And inside, I have been growing this over the past month:

Two tomato plants starting to bud.

I had to put plastic around it because one of our kitties took to chewing off the leaves and killed one sprout and nearly two others. Those two, with regular watering quickly shot up to over three feet tall from the soil surface to the top and continues. I think these tomatoes love their mini-greenhouse made of that heavy-duty plastic. At least, they love not having a cat chew on them, and so do I.

Tomato greens can be toxic to cats, but Jack, being Jack, never showed signs of discomfort that we could see. He's our dog-cat. He eats everything, so we have to be careful. We did plant some kitty grass for him in a little potter after he went after the young tomato plants, and he LOVED that! Unfortunately, he also pooped out grass, which doesn't digest and caused him to have poop hanging from his butt. 🙁

Jack with his special cat grass (wheat, rye, barley mix)

Such is life here. We should have fresh tomatoes by the end of the month and will soon start some more indoor veggies. I hope Jack doesn't chew on those... cauliflower, radishes, and spearmint. I may even plant a head or two of lettuce if I have enough room in front of the the deck doors.

So, we're keeping an indoor garden. In one of the pictures above, you can see our regular garden plot. We've been taking out food waste to compost this spring. We have a pail under the sink to dump egg shells, banana peels, and other plant waste to take out and dump to add to our compost, although it appears that something is coming around to eat on some of that, which is fine too. We have wildlife in our rural neighborhood.

As I get older, I appreciate growing my own food more and more. It's a hobby with fruitful results. 😉