The Moldy Doily

and then along came Gilly...

Sometimes it takes a little time to heal and sometimes it just takes a new friend to ease the pain.  Justin and decided to check out the local desert animal shelters for a new companion pal for Georgie boy.  We stumbled upon a 5 month old tabby tiger girl with a lot of spunk.   I am typing this with one hand while a new cat purrs on my chest. We brought her home and so far so good.  He has followed her around as she explores the place, and neither seems to mind the other.  I can already tell they will be good friends in the future.

Georgie reacted to the new kitty... by hiding under the bed.  She however was fearless and not phased by his size and pranced around the house bumping faces with him numerous times.

Our good friend Laura came to visit up here in the desert.  We had a great time exploring thrift shops in palm springs and antique malls all over yucca valley and eating BBQ at Pappy and Harriets.  We hit the mother lode when we stumbled upon a real cowboy posse riding horses in Pioneertown and a cool estate sale.  The estate sale we went to in Pioneertown had tons of crystals and rocks for super cheap!  We scored weird shells and drift wood to make crafts as well as painted gourds that would impress Yayoi Kusama!  We kept kicking ourselves for not seeing the flyers for this sale on Thursday (when it first started)  The loot that other garage sale people were carrying off made us green with envy.  The town was re-enacting old Saloon scenes complete with brothel ladies, shooting cowboys and comedy acts.

it was hard to say goodbye to Laura, Gilly had formed quite a cat crush on her.  She followed her around and came whenever Laura called her.  

Gilly seems super excited by all the new space, new things to explore and of course people.  She hasn't left our sides since we brought her home.  She wants to be curled up in a lap no matter what.  I think she's a really good addition to our family.  

heartbroken

I woke up in the middle of the night and went to the kitchen and was greeted by my pal Largent. He followed me into the bathroom where he collapsed into my lap.  Weirdly I felt like we had a "moment" .  He seemed relieved that I had woke up.  The past few days he had barely eaten his food, and seemed to retreat to one spot.  Justin and I had decided maybe he was sick, and figured we should take him to the vet.  We put him in the carrier today, and sat in the waiting room with other cats in distress.  He calmly stood there and occasionally pushed his face into my fingers as I tried to comfort him.  When the nurse called us back, Justin thought I might be too emotional to go in so I stayed in the lobby.  (I tend to get anxious when it comes to our cats in cages and such)  After 40 minutes, he asked me to come back into Largent's room.  Our cat was not there, and I was informed they were doing an X-ray and then blood work.  About 10 minutes later the doctor came in and said that he couldn't explain why Largent's condition had deteriorated so quickly but that he was barely breathing on his own and that his organs seems stressed.  I don't remember much else about what he was explaining, I just know that he was saying in so many words, he's probably not going to make it through this.  I just kept thinking I was letting him down. He was such an emotional cat and I wanted him to know that I was there.  When the doctor asked if we wanted to see him again before we left, we looked at eachother for a moment before replying.  Truthfully I was so scared, not knowing what state he might be in.  But I knew there was no way I was leaving without petting him one last time.  Laying on the table with tubes down his throat he looked at me, and I couldn't help but start crying.  This cat, named after a Seattle Seahawks football star...was the reason that my husband and I became close.  We adopted him together and we moved in together so that our cats would have company.  He was from a shelter and had obviously been abused physically and emotionally.  He had half a tail and abandonment issues.  We loved and adored him and would often remark that he won the "cat lottery" with owners like us.  When we moved out here to the desert he was so happy.  Always staring at the birds outside. I would like to think that there was nothing I could've done today to save him.  I cannot stop sobbing and thought posting these pictures might make me feel better.

   

He really loved to bury his face into the kitchen table and take naps

sorry some of these are sideways...

s

I am going to remember your fascination with shoes and feet.  The way you would bury your face in the bottom of a shoe and go to sleep.  I am going to remember the way your little toes trotted across the wood floors like tap shoes.  I'm going to remember the way you loved the sunshine.  I will always picture you rolling on your back near the window practically smiling.  Hoping you know how much we loved you.  R.I.P Largie.