"Bebe" - April 2000 - August 2020

This is our oldest cat "Bebe," who is 20 years old.  She has a sister who was called "Sweet Pea."  Sweet Pea died about five years ago.  Yesterday we had to take Bebe to the vet to be euthanized.  She has been getting weaker and thinner, but she is a trooper and has been hanging in there for a long time now.  But she started bleeding yesterday afternoon on the floor and the rugs, and we realized that her time had come.  It is SO difficult to have to say goodbye to a pet we have loved for so long.  Bebe was such a warm and friendly cat and loved to curl up with us, or lie on us. 

 

 What is funny is that when we got our two newer cats, Grace and Sam, they immediately recognized her as the boss of the house!  They always deferred to her, especially at the food bowls!  So many times we would see Grace, the black and white cat, curled up next to Bebe, and she would be grooming her by licking her.  It was a wonderful thing to see.  It was always amazing to see that Sam, who is a big cat and walks round as if he owns the place, yield to her as they passed each other on the stairs.  

And here is BeBe in her favorite place!

When we brought Bebe's body home from the vets, she was wrapped in an old towel, and we carried her home in this special box, brightly decorated with cute cats.  We opened the top of the box in the living room and both Grace and Sam came over to the open box and sniffed around,  and Grace put her paws on the open box and looked in and sniffed.  Our sense was that both cats realized that Bebe had died.  After dinner we put the box by the back door, so that in the morning I could take her out and bury her.  Imagine our surprise when we looked into the back room some time later and saw Grace just sitting next to Bebe in the box.  We were really touched...

 

No Dunkin' Donuts - Week 21

This post should have been done on Tuesday, which was our Dunkin' Donuts Day, but we had more exciting information to tell you about our new granddaughter!  Even if the hurricane was forecast to arrive at mid day, we decided to have our coffee and donuts at the beach.  It was not raining when we arrived, so we thought we would sit at "our" picnic table, but as we got out of the car the rain started.  So we enjoyed our breakfast while watching the rain come.  I thought I would do an impressionistic photograph because it gives a good feeling for being at the beach in the rain.  After we drove home, the rain paused a bit and we were able to get into the house without getting soaked.  Who goes to the beach when a hurricane is coming and doesn't bring an umbrella?

What Hurricanes Do

I stayed indoors during most of the hurricane yesterday.  At some points the wind was howling.  I think we had some 65 MPH gusts.  The lights flickered a few times and then went out.  So when things calmed down just a bit, I went out for a drive to see if I could figure out where the power line was down.  There were lines down everywhere!  I ended up driving down by Sea Cliff Beach, at the bottom of the cliff where I could see all the boats moored by the Yacht club.  The boats all looked OK, except this one.  OK some technical stuff here - this is a "double headsail rig" but I don't know the name of the jib in front - the one that has been partially shredded. That sail is wrapped around it's support when not in use - that is called "roller reefing."  What was not anticipated by the owner was that the strength of the wind was so great, that it managed to unroll the sail a bit, and then it flapped in the high winds, and was shredded - pieces of the sail ripped off and are caught, like rags, on the mast. Love that this is such a beautiful boat, and white, and that the background is dark gray because the sun was shining on the yacht.  This new sail will cost the owner a few bucks!  But, hey, it has been said that "a boat is a hole in the water into which you throw money."

Mother and Daughter!

Just look at this smile from Amy!  She gave birth to a healthy baby girl last night, named "Vivian" and we are over the moon!  It was a long haul - Amy and Gus went to the hospital yesterday, in Los Angeles at 11 AM and Vivian was not born until 9 PM!  Yikes!  She was exhausted, needless to say.  This beautiful baby weighed 7 lbs 11 ozs.  We are so grateful, because this has been such a long journey for Amy and Gus - probably 12 years all together.

Amy sent this photograph just a couple of hours ago and it is fun to see Vivian in a full face portrait.

When Desperate...

When desperate for a photograph, I head for the nearest garden!  We can see these Black-eyed Susans from our dining room table, and it is a joy to see this brilliant flash of yellow from so far away.  So I headed over to the garden because I needed a beautiful photograph to post for you all.  This is the result and I hope it brings you joy!

The Eye

I was stopped at a red light behind this tanker truck full of gasoline.  It had filled up down at the terminal at the harbor, where fuel comes in by barge.  I have seen these trucks over the years, and have been familiar with the eye inside the triangle.  The eye is there because the first name of the transportation company is "Island."  But I got curious about the significance of an eye in a triangle.  It is called "The Eye of Providence," or "the all-seeing eye of God."  It is used in various religions and other institutions whereby the eye of God watches over humanity.  It is also one of the symbols of the Masons, and it is the symbol of His Divine watchfulness and His ever present care of the universe.  It is also on the top of the pyramid on the reverse of the U.S. One Dollar bill.  Aren't you glad you came by the blog today to find all this out?

The Life of Ants

We have two white Adirondack chairs up on the hill in the side yard.  They are quite pretty up there.  We have never sat up on that little hill before, but now that the chairs are there, we have found it is a wonderful plate to sit and look out on all our property - (which is less than a quarter acre!)    :-)    So I took my ham and cheese sandwich up there for lunch and to read my book.  I noticed a few of these ants walking around on the chair I was not sitting in, and on the arm of which was the plate holding my sandwich.  When I saw a few ants near the plate, I lifted up the sandwich and held it until I had finished it.  I defeated the ants!  I look over at my plate 10 minutes later and I could not believe my eyes!  there was one tiny piece of cheese left on the plate and a swarm of ants were all over it!  Man oh man,  HOW did a few ants get the message to all the other ants?  I guess some of them traveled really quickly from the cheese to where the other ants were.  But it seemed to happen so quickly!  Maybe I should read a book about the life of ants!