Thank You Cokie for 12 great years...

This afternoon Kitty Hospice came and put Cokie to sleep in my arms while we were sitting in the back yard. It seemed like the most kind way to go. Her cancer had gotten pretty bad and was clearly making her nuts to not be able to scratch and dig at it. We adopted Cokie from the pound 12 and a half years ago to kill the palm rats that liked to visit our old home. It did not take long to understand why Cokie had been tossed into a mail box---she NEVER stoped talking. 27/7 this cat talked. It got so bad she had to spend many a night sleeping outside. Cokie was the kind of cat that did not understand she was a cat. If she could have found a away she would have crawled up inside of me and lived. She was a good protective Mamma kitty. She took stray Ivy in at two weeks old and treated her like her own. She taught Ivy how to climb trees and catch mice. When I was one bed rest with the twins, cokie would sit and amuse me by training ivy with real mice that she would bring into the house and let free so that Ivy could learn to catch them---well I'm sure you can figure out who was trying to catch them---ME full on preganant with twins and NOT being able to bend over let alone move. I would often trap the renagad mice and leave them until Linjit or Mr T would come home. Cokie was a good kitty and the longest Kitty I have owned. I will miss her loud sratchy meow as she greeted me each time I saw her. We laid her to rest under the shade of the lemon tree. I wrapped her in the very baby blankets she loved to sleep on so many years ago. I am sad. I never thought she would be the first kitty to go...with five cats, two of which came with the house...I thought Liz's cats (the two that are older and I am not attached to) would go first...

I have a great photo of her that will always remind me of her outgoing personality--a photo of her sitting on the shelf in the exact same pose as the cat cookie jar she was sitting next to. I wish I could find the photo to post. But inside I will post two that I have at hand. One shortly after we got her from the pound being held by KC and one of her sleeping inside the fruit bowl that she LOVED to do while I was working...

Not a Good Summer for Kitties...

Two months ago we had a very sick Ivy kitty. This month it is Cokie. I thought she was attacked on the ear by whatever had attacked Ivy. I treated the ear and her with antibiotics with no signs of improvement. In fact things just seemed to be getting worse. She would not leave it alone. We took her in and the vet said cancer. We were able to get a second opinion on the spot and that vet also said cancer. So we brought her home and have given her the royal treatment for the past three weeks. I have been in denial but have had to face the truth. I kind thing to do is put her to sleep. She is not her usual chatty obnoxious in your face non-stop self. She is quite and reserved and that IS NOT our Cokie. I can see that she is not feeling well. It breaks my heart. I have had 17 cats in my life and have NEVER had to put on down. They have always just mysteriously disappeared.
I found a vet that will come to the house and put her to rest while we hold her in our lap. I liken it to Kitty hospice. This Monday will be a sad day in the Tomato house. Noley and Tobbers are quite sad but understand why we need to do it. They can see how bad she looks and how lethargic she is. FuFu and HooHaa are too young to understand.
I have never had a cat live as long as her. I rescued her from the SPCA along with her kitten Mimi. I learned right away why she was dumped in a mail box with her kittens---she NEVER stopped talking---24/7 this cat would follow you around talking. She has been a very good kitty and had tolerated alot from 4 kids.

Ear She Goes....

Today marks a memorable day for Miss Canoley. This morning she passed her Kumon test with flying colors and moved on to the next level and to celebrate her success she opted to get her EARS PIERCED. I myself had to wait till I was 13 and it KILLED me. I never approached the subject but a couple years ago her friend Avers got hers done and every since Ms Canoley has been thinking about it. About two months ago she asked us to go ahead and do it and we suggested waiting till her 10th birthday...she offered up moving up to the next level in Kumon (which places her one year above grade level at school) and I said Okay. So off we went to the mall. Me, Noley and stuffed kitty for holding on to. I know she is growing up and getting bigger but it was reassuring to me that she is still a little girl as she happily walked through the mall with stuffed kitty in hand.

Dudes in Sweatsuits Dance with Ducks

Okay so I have NO idea who the heck these dudes are, but this video is funny and the ducks and geese in the backround about split me in two.

We be Jamm'n

So when I look back at my childhood summers spent with my Nonnie, I think of three things.... sewing using my grandmas scraps of fabric, playing in the chicken coop with my cousin Kathy and picking berries along the river to make jam and pies. So in the spirit of Summer, I decided to take on one of my childhood memories--making jam. Since what I remember was quite labor intensive, I chose the easy route. Strawberry Refrigerator Jam - no cooking involved.
I had marked the calendar with "Jam Day" not telling them what it meant. I let them guess--not one had an inkling that it was actually "jam". One thought we were fixing something that was jammed and another thought it referred to pajama day and Tobbers thought it has something to do with dancing to Bob Marleys "jammin" song.
All of the yahoos participated and chopped away four pounds of strawberries. We ended up with twelve jars of strawberry Jam (that was more like preserves) perfect for pancakes, making strawberry ice cream and eating it right from the jar.

65 days left...

We have entered our third week of Summer with a bang of a 4th of July Party on the Block. We had fireworks out the wazoo and only managed to catch one five year old on fire ummm that is her dress. Thankfully, her parents were invloved and close by and managed to removed the smock a la flambe without a trace of burns involved.

This week the girls are off to Chinese Culture Camp or at least I think they are. I received what I belive is confirmation of their attendance but it is all in chinese so who knows. They might be playing in a ping png tournment for all I can tell. They boys will be haning with me as I try and figure out good places to go that are of no interest to girls.