Hoops' Very Busy Day

Here's the little movie I made...
Pictures were taken over the course of several hours. What a life!

Suicides, Chainsaws and Kittens

Fortunately, it was a slow night in the emergency room. Relatively speaking anyway. It was probably too early for the usual stabbings and gunshot wounds. But within earshot there was a teenager with a broken arm, a guy that was suicidal and talking to a social worker, and a guy with what we overheard to be "chainsaw injuries." Then there was us.

Dr.: (Flipping through the paperwork) "So, what do we have here…"

Lenore: "Um...well, I got bit by a kitten."

Snaps to the ER staff for not laughing.

It all started when we found this poor little kitten under a car in the parking lot at St. Joseph Hospital (where my dad is). Of course we couldn't just leave it there, so Lenore coaxed it out and they immediately bonded. But little Stumpy Jo (half its tail was missing) accidentally bit Lenore on the jaw during a yawn/meow or something – it wasn’t intentional, but definitely complicated the situation.





Fortunately (or unfortunately), Stumpy Jo also had a possible broken leg, so we went to the emergency door at Dundee Animal hospital, and, after hearing our story, they agreed to take the kitten. But they also said we should get to the ER right away to have the bite checked and possibly get a rabies shot (!!), since we didn't know the kitten's history or what had chewed its tail off. After reaching dead ends with Lenore's insurance company, we started calling around to see where we could go. Let me just say now, it is not easy to find a medical facility that even gives rabies shots. We tried two immediate care facilities and the local affiliated ER, and they kept referring us back to the other, or told us to call the health department, which of course was closed. We were on our way to Barrington, lamenting the fact that it would have been easier to go back to the hospital where we found the kitten, cuz then maybe we could pop up and see my dad again too. Then it dawned on us that neither of us had actually called that ER, so we pulled over and called. At first we got the same song and dance, "You should go to immediate care...oh, they don't give rabies shots? Then call the health department. No, you can't wait until Monday, you better just come in." SIGH!!!

The doctor was very nice; he gave Lenore an antibiotic, and he called the animal hospital to make sure they could observe the kitten and let us know if anything suspicious showed up, so we (and by we I mean Lenore) avoided the rabies shots for now.

Anybody want a kitten??? My mom wouldn't let us give it to dad for father's day.

Here's Lenore's savaged wound, which the doctor didn't even bother to clean. I'm not sure if he was humoring us or not, but better safe than sorry I guess.

Kitty also snagged Lenore on the nose during an attempt to snuggle, so we have to watch for cat scratch fever. Though I'm not sure how I'm supposed to be able to tell if Lenore is acting weird.

Here are some more photos of Stumpy. How can you resist that little face?!





Update: The animal hospital said she (yes, she's a girl) is doing great, though she may have to lose a little more of her tail. Her rear leg was broken but has healed, so she will get along fine, but will have a limp. The break was located at what would be shin height on a human. The tail injury is around 4 weeks old, so that's good news for Lenore. Stumpy is eating and purring and appears to be a very happy little kitten.

Bicoastal Perkiness

Yes, Perky Potholders can be found from coast to coast now. Roland took this picture of Greg and Howard in L.A. with their Hollywood Halloween potholder. I think perhaps the picture doesn't do justice to how thrilled they are.


It was a fun weekend despite the ridiculous weather. Odie flew in for a quick visit, so between thunderstorms we enjoyed bike rides, Chicago Bandits pro softball games, grilling, and also a visit from Dawn and Cathy (also passing through from Florida on their way up north). In deference to the face blog, they brought us a really cool Stumpkin! (Lenore is holding it in the photo.) Check out the web site -- each one is different, so I need to take a better picture of ours.



Odie, Lenore and I went for a nice (albeit humid) bike ride to Algonquin to pick up Lenore's NEW BIKE (!!). As you can see, the frame geometry puts the pedals a little further forward, which gives you a different kind of ride -- kind of like being on a recumbent, but not really. At any rate, it's very comfortable and I am jealous.


Actually, I Rollerbladed there and Lenore rode my bike with the bike cart attached. Then I put my blades in the cart and rode my bike home so Lenore could ride her new bike. We just missed a downpour, which would have been tragic!

Hoops also had a busy weekend. I made a little movie of her power lounging, but it may be too much of an epic to post. I'll try later.


In other news, my basil plant already bit the dust, so I thought I should post this photo of my nifty plant stand (purchased at the farmer's market for a song) in case it's an epidemic. I was hoping to have a little herb garden on the porch, but I may have to stick to catnip, which I think Hoops was expecting anyway.

None of my Pickup Lines Were Working

Now accepting captions for this photo -- post a comment and share one!

Spring Perkiness

This color match was purely by accident.


Lenore and I took the week off after Memorial Day. The plan was to just putz around, go for bike rides, sleep late, get our gardens planted, etc., and I have to say, it was a most enjoyable vacation. There were no travel worries, bags to pack or itineraries. I highly recommend vacationing this way. Only, you know, at your own house. We also ate pie pretty much every day. I highly recommend that too.

I did not get many (OK, any) potholders made, but potholder making is more of a rainy day/winter sport. And on the days it did rain, I was doing more important things, like sleeping and watching Netflix. I do have my priorities.

Here's mom with her Mother's Day potholders made of lovely yellow wool.


And her pet snail. I know it has nothing to do with anything, I just think it's cute.


Speaking of changing the subject, check out the million dollar zucchini slice plus other additions to the face blog here.

Doppelganger

Lenore's been getting visits from a little Hoops cat in the neighborhood that likes to come over for some petting. He follows Lenore around in the yard when she's gardening, a situation that Xena is most displeased with. Here he is wondering if someone can come out and play with him. We haven't named him, he's just "the cat that looks like Hoops." I can't write what Xena calls him, it might make your computer smoke.