Wagon Wheels, Bears and Cats! Oh my!

For the first time, I made a bid on e-bay. Now, I will probably be addicted to this shopping mecca that is worldwide. Mom and I have been looking for a wagon wheel to put back out at the driveway entrance to the Tiffany Hotel and Restaurant. My step dad had a beautiful wagon wheel there with the Tiffany name on it and NO VACANCY. Kidding! He would joke with all of us about doing our laundry, cleaning, etc.

As Mom and I were going through some of my pictures, we discovered pictures of the Tiffany Wheel of Fortune and Mom said she would like a wheel put back there. So, me being the computer guru at Loomis Drive, tracked one down. Mind you, I am not much of a guru as Mom doesn't even know how to turn the computer on . She can now scroll due to my diligence in training her.

The wagon wheel man just e-mailed to say that he received my check and after a ten day wait period, the wagon wheel will be on its way. Woo Hoo!. I volunteered to repaint the Tiffany part of the sign.

Had a message waiting that Mr. Bear was done and in need of his home. He will be delivered this Saturday by Jeff, my favorite bear maker and his family. We are having a bear reunion at Mom's as he will be out in front of her house until my house is ready, which should be the end of October. So, my fishing bear will have two new homes, Mom's and mine. I have to tell you that Barnie is just way too CUTE. I absolutely adore him and I could look at him forever. He has such a personality. I am going to paint a sign that says, "Gone Fishing." His pole is authentic as well as the wooden fish. He looks just like the bear from the Disney movie. He has buttons on his bibs and he has been sealed, too. Signed, sealed and delivered, he's mine. Je l'adore. Also, I will be making him another sign, which will have the name of our home (French style), which is Chateau Soleil.

Of course, I took pictures of my darling Barnie and he is one handsome bear, indeed. Jeff was worried whether I would like Barnie or not. I told Jeff, "How could I not like Barnie?" He is every girl's dream. He smiles all the time. He is happy go lucky. He brings dinner home on a regular basis that is non-fattening. He has excellent table manners-no belching and burping. He stands up straight and does not slouch. He keeps his bibs clean while he is out fishing. He doesn't walk through the house with dirty paws. His fingernails and toenails OOPS-excuse me, his claws are well manicured and clean. He is fastidious about his looks. His eyes are golden brown when he looks at you dreamy eyed. He doesn't have a jealous bone in his body. He listens intently and attentively. He doesn't snore or take up the whole bed. I know what you are thinking, ladies. He is one beary good catch. How right you are! Are any of you ready for a trade-in yet? Well, Barnie is the bearman, without a doubt. Sorry to say that Barnie is already taken and unfortunately, he is one fellow that I won't share with anyone, except my Mom.


Learned that Eddie, our construction cat died. He lived at the house on County Road 17 and he was a cat with an attitude, was our Eddie. When I first started dating Al, Becky wanted a cat, since their cat Rodney died at the time her mother did. For a very long time, Al had said, "NO more cats." Becky told me that if I asked Al for a cat, she was sure that he would say,"YES." So me being the softie told Al that she missed her cat and no doubt, her mom, so why not let her have a cat. Well, instead of her coming home with one kitten, she arrived with two, which were named Mo and Riley. Mind you, we had or should I say, they had four dogs, two cats and geese running amok when all was said and done.

One morning about 6, my phone rang and it was Al saying that he had fed Abbie, their big black German Shepard her morning breakfast and he had not put his glasses on. The kitty, named Riley figured it was his food and marched on over to the bowl, where Abbie, being protective of her morning breakfast picked Riley up by the neck to set him aside, only to break his neck. Al, without glasses is like the blind leading the blind, so he didn't see Riley headed for Abbie's dish. Al was in a quandary as what to do. I told him he would have to wake Becky up and explain what happened and they should bury Riley together. In the background, I could hear Mo crying and I told Al that perhaps, he would have to get another cat as Mo would be lonely. Thus, the story of SPCA Eddie and Martha Stewart with me in the middle.

After three days of Mo crying, Al called to ask me to go to the SPCA to find a kitten about the age of Mo. So yours truly went in search of a kitten, only to find a cat about 1 year old. He looked friendly and had long gray and white fur. Me not being an animal person, had no cat carrier, let alone a box. The shelter had no box, so I calculated the risk of taking Eddie in my brand new Surbaru Outback over to Al's. Al had assured me that the house would be unlocked and that I could put Eddie on the back porch until he returned home from football.

So, Eddie was happy sitting in the backseat on the Martha Steward towel I had placed on the new seats. He came up front to visit and then settled back down. I arrived at Al's house with no mishaps or dramas, only to find that the house was completely locked up tight. I couldn't leave Eddie outside and there was nowhere safe that I could leave him in the red barn. So, I headed off to football practice to inform Al of my dilemma. What to do with Eddie?

I pulled up and climbed out of the car, when I heard the football players saying, "Hey, Mr. Arotsky, Miss. Mott is here." as I was trying to wave him over without losing Eddie, who had decided to take a # 2 in my car en route to the practice field on the Martha Stewart towel. Let me tell you that the smell was enough to make my eyes water. I couldn't open the windows for fear that Eddie would take a flying leap out of the car. Well, Eddie scared himself so that he hid under the passenger seat up front and I couldn't get him out.

Al came off the field with a look of what is going on?!!! Let's see, I found the purrfect cat, only to realize I had no cat carrier of any nature, except my new Subaru, the house was locked that you promised would be open (his dad was visiting and had left the house, so he locked it up, not knowing that I was en route with the cat), the cat took a dump on Martha Stewart's towel (one use she hadn't probably thought of), now he is under the passenger seat and won't come out and that is all that is going on. I said he better not be taking another bathroom break under the seat.

Al tried to coax him out from under the seat to no avail. He was a scaredy cat. So, I told Al that he had better get his tools out to take the seat out as neither of us could retrieve him. Al wanted to know what I was going to do with the cat. My immediate reply was, "This is your cat, so you are in charge of him. I did my duty and found the cat for you and I've done my part."

So, Al noting my major problem of Eau de PoopPoo decided to scavenger a cardboard box out of the school dumpster to house Eddie, once we could get him out of the car. Al had driven our Mustang that day to practice and I don't think he wanted a repeat performance of Eddie's nature calling routine. Box in hand, Al eventually vacated Eddie from my new "smelling" car. Needless to say, Martha and I parted ways as we threw her new color coordinated towel in the dumpster. Au revoir, Martha, I sing songed. It was the best money I had spent as my seat wasn't ruined. The Arotsky's thought I was nuts to have towels covering my seats. Not me! This was a fine example why you need an abundance of towels in your vehicle.

Imagine our first day with Eddie!!! He was the best cat ever with such an attitude and personality that you just had to love him. Well, when we moved to our new house, Al drove Eddie on a long circuit to confuse his circuit breaker as to where his old home used to be. We were only a couple of miles away and could see Al's old house from our new house deck. After three weeks, Eddie discovered his old home and homeward bound he was. The new owners, the Barghers, Dave and Nancy would return Eddie and we would pick up Eddie. After the fifth or sixth time of retrieving Eddie, despite my having a chat with Eddie about his wanderings "home", the Barghers offered to adopt Eddie. We didn't know what to do as Eddie was used to being an outdoor cat, who lumbered inside when he wanted something to eat or drink. In Eddie fashion, he decided when he wanted attention and let you know it by leaping up on your lap with a swish of his tail through your face as if to say,"Here I am!"

We agreed with Nancy and Dave that he would only be happy in his home down the hill. I offered to buy cat food for Eddie and they promptly said,"No" as it was Eddie's home, too and they already had 3 cats. We had installed cat doors, so that the cats could come and go as they wanted.

Well, Eddie ended up staying with the Barghers and ran the household in his own way. He was the top cat and that was that. He decided to mark his territory and ruined Dave's computer and he had to purchase a new one. I was horrified and figured that was the end of Eddie staying at County Rd. 17, but to my unbelieving ears, Dave explained that it was Eddie's house first and no doubt, he was upset with the change. Eddie's adopted parents loved him tremendously and were wonderful to him, despite his penchant for soiling Martha Stewart's towel and ruining their computer. So, today I brought them a little gift thanking them for taking such great care of Eddie, our construction cat. I painted them a set of three blocks that said on block 1 We block 2 love block 3 cats. You can stack them or line them up, etc. Nancy and Dave were delighted with the gift. Nancy had made an apple crisp and insisted we stay to have some.

Funny how things go, everybody at their work place was sad to hear of Eddie's passing as Dave and Nancy had recounted many Eddie stories. All their colleagues wanted to give them another cat, but they declined. Soon after, Nancy discovered a stray cat in their barn and cajoled Dave into keeping the skinny kitty, who was in desperate need of food and a home.

Well, as we were eating our apple crisp, the new kitty jumped up on my lap and Nancy went to pick him/her (they don't know yet if it is a he or a she) up and as she did, the new kitty's tail went right through my apple crisp leaving a trail of crumbs on the table. I had to decline eating the apple crisp-germs and all. Was that a sign from Eddie in cat heaven, still swishing his tail? There are many more humorous cat tales that involved our beloved Eddie, but I shall save them for a rainy day.

May you save a stray, whether the human kind or the cat kind. Once you do, you will be loved for life and rightfully so. Thank you, Nancy and Dave for giving Eddie back his home, but more importantly, your love for him.

A special thank you goes to Sabina C., who generously donated to my transplant fund to help defray the cost of my stay at Pittsburgh. It is much appreciated. You're an angel.