Love, Laughter, and Life

Adventures With a Book Lover


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The MABEL Gate: In Memory of a Furbaby

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Just before Christmas, our family was devastated to discover neighborhood dogs had destroyed our precious love-love (my nickname for her) Mabel. It was pretty awful. We still miss our little gray girl every day.

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No more “Which one is this?” from the grands (and everyone else). No more help working on my writing projects. No more kitty tracks on my printed papers. No more head butts and lap cuddles.

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Monet, her twin sister, was lost for quite a few weeks and is now just finally starting to come into her own as an ONLY cat. There are times she quite enjoys the attention. The rest of the time she’d rather be out mousing or birding. She was always the more independent wild thing.

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To combat future attacks, we put up a gate on our driveway to discourage any other dogs from wandering in to check out what trouble they could get into. As Papa and Hayden finished up the gate, they decided it should be named after Mabel, a tribute to her short, cuddly, furry life.

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Perfect! In honor of our Mabes, Mabel, love-love, gray girl, kitty baby. The MABEL gate. Ta-da!


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Dead Stuff

by Angie Quantrell

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dead stuff

every. single. day.

dead stuff is delivered.

fur. teeth. tails. tiny feet.

feathers. skulls. wings asunder.

the odd beak.

legless bugs. drips of blood.

eerie green body parts.

dead stuff. in life. in dreams.

felines hard at work.

freeze. winter. come soon.

put to ground the endless corpses

delivered as gifts.

pause the need for caution

when opening the door or

placing feet along the body strewn gravel,

blending in, creating traps for thoughtless tread.

drop. temperature. ice-over.

to sleep. to fly south. to hibernate.

what happened to lumps of fur nested

in front of roaring fires?

rest, kitties, rest.

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Foot Warmers: A Letter to My Cats

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Dear Kitties,

I know it’s cold in the RV. In fact, sometimes it’s Jack Frost icy. I realize that furry coats don’t always do the job in the warm-me-up department. I even acknowledge that though there are only 2 of you (and you are sisters from the SAME litter), touching each other often causes undo excitement, hissy fits, and flying bits of gray fluff.

We have a queen bed. In the RV. Crammed into a tiny alcove. Six-foot two-inch hubby requires most of the square footage available on said bed. That leaves me a tiny sliver, I’d even say the edge is my only slumber real estate.

I know we have an electric blanket. I admit to enjoying the toasty slide into pre-warmed sheets. The heater ducts blow comfortably hot air into our bedroom. This makes our room the most desirable location during long winter nights.

It also makes me be squished.

Sliver of bed. Closet alcove for darkness naps. Tall husband. Two cats.

Kitties. I have short legs. But even then, when you are both snuggled and sleeping like furry gray rocks along the bottom of the bed, I am left with nowhere to put my feet.

Out of the covers? Brrrr. Between you? This is one event where you allow yourselves to touch, even become glued together with your sibling. Beneath you? Your elephanty weight belies your small stature. Against the hubby? Uhm, his long legs leave no room. Up against your warm bodies it is then.

A ball. You will find me rolled on my side up near the outer wall of the RV. Sushi roll style, head wedged against the “dresser,” shoulders along the “headboard,” hands and knees tucked into the middle like bits of julienned carrots and radishes. The seaweed wrap of electric blanket coccooning me. And there the sushi mama roll will stay all night, on her less than 1/4 of the bed area.

You, my kitties, will have plenty of sleeping room. Purring contentedly, stretching at ease, lengthening and contracting with the rise and fall of space and temperatures.

Thanks for keeping us company and for blanketing our bed with your heat and snuggles. I don’t mind sharing with you. Not a bit.

Sleep well, feline foot warmers.

The Sushi Kitty Mama


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O, Christmas Tree – In & Out of the RV

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Welcome, baby plastic tree!

I can’t stand it!

Two fresh pine trees outside, one planted and one cut, both decorated with white lights and silver stars and well watered. One potted artificial tree with blue lights next to the door. That doesn’t cut it for me, the lover of all things Christmas tree. The inside of the RV was too bare.

But with 2 kitties, lack of floor space, and no extra counter space, what is one to do?

Get a tree anyway.

Welcome little plastic tree, pre-wired and covered with plastic ornaments. Thank you for lighting up our indoor Christmas space. I know the kitties can’t hurt you, though they try, and you can’t (shouldn’t?) break.

So again, welcome. How lovely are your tiny little fake branches and your cheerful glow!

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3 trees – tiny in front, tall in the middle, and blue next to the door.

Outdoor Tree Update: The Christmas tree down count is 3 wind events, which equals 3 pick-up-the-tree-and-replace-the-stars outings.

How about you? How many trees do you have? Do you have to pet-proof your Christmas decor? I’d love to hear I am not alone!


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National Pet Day

Baby pictures – Monet and Mabel

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

Today is National Pet Day.

Here are our two highly energetic and trouble-seeking felines, Mabel and Monet.

The sisters are camera shy and any attempt to take photos results in instant movement, waltzing away from the scene, aloof attitudes, or disdainful staring away from the camera. Loving eye shots are not allowed. No. Not at all.

Mabel of the gorgeous eyes

Our cats love to:

– climb the walls (literally)

– chase, capture, and bring in wildlife (birds, worms, mice, rats)

– pretend they live at the home of neighbors (your choice; we see them regularly lazing in the yards or coming home from 5 different yards – none of which are ours)

– leave hair everywhere

– recline on the kitchen table

– claim any unfurred piece of furniture until it is redecorated in white, gray, and tan fur

– play catch the lazer (or string, or cord, or feathers, or toes…)

– steal rubberbands

– eat daddy-long-legs

– try and potty in the garden beds

– tease the neighborhood bully cat with friendship, and then turn about squawling as if ripped limb from limb (this also results in the male boy spraying regularly on several key locations, house included)

– race loudly and wildly through the house

– be wherever we are

– sleep on fuzzy blankets

Monet with the striped tail

Oh, there is more. They are cats. You get the idea. We are not allowed cat fur free clothing, bird feeders, or litter free carpets.

But we love them. Entertainment, affection, company, lap warmers, snugglers. I guess we’ll keep them.

Monet depositing hair and cat litter

Do you need some great ideas of things to do on National Pet Day? I found a Web site that shared several suggestions. Just click this link. National Pet Day

What kind of pets do you have? I’d love to see and hear about them.

Mabel claiming the center of the bed

Happy National Pet Day!