Worn Out...

 

Cold still got you down, Jim?  Yes, but this is something that wears me out, just from watching.

Of course, I am talking about Murphy and Stella.  She is healed and more rambunctious than ever.  I gotta give it to her - she will go after Murphy (who is more than twice her size).  He is gentle and patient, to a point.  And when he reaches that point, fur may fly.

I find myself being the unpaid referee... "Take down, Murphy, two points"... "Escape and reversal, Stella, two points"...  it goes on.  And on.  It isn't just wrestling - there is also a component of steeplechase.  And MMA.

Murph looking down from his tower...

 Stella looking up...

 More than half the time these days, she is the instigator.  Like this...

 "I couldn't help it - his tail was just asking for it!"  Situations like this lead to me refereeing.  I can send them to their separate corners, but one of them always sneaks out.  Joan and I take turns: "I have to go to the bathroom, you're on."

"I don't want to be on."

Eventually, they both wear out.  After lunch, nap time.  A temporary peace.

 

More of the same...

 

Yes, I am aware that over the counter cold meds don't "cure" a cold; at best, they lessen some of the symptoms.  I'm OK with that - slow down the flowing snot and ease the lung congestion, thank you very much.

A cold becomes a complication for someone with asthma.  I'm not playing up the "man cold" schtick - it gets in my lungs and kicks my butt.  I had to do a breathing treatment yesterday to help ease a coughing fit.  I mentioned that to my buddy Mark when he and I were coordinating music get-togethers for the month.  I told him I'm hoping to be better for next week, but to not schedule me for anything this week.

A "breathing treatment" uses asthma meds in a nebulizer which converts it to a mist - you inhale it through a tube, so it gets into your lungs and helps break up the congestion.  It doesn't get rid of the congestion, it thins it enough so you can, hopefully, cough it out on your own.

 

Consider it to be like an asthma inhaler that you breathe in for 15 to 20 minutes.  It isn't uncomfortable and it does provide relief for lung congestion, especially after you cough out the nasty stuff.  Better to get on it right away rather than let that congestion sit in there and turn into an infection.  OK, TMI once again.

So, a week into this crappy cold.  According to everything I read, I am beyond the being contagious stage, but I still have to cough frequently to keep my airways clear.  Joan's rule: if you are coughing, no going out in public.  I am sure it is not because she doesn't want to be seen with me in public.  Probably.  I get that: I remember the death stares given to anyone who coughed in public during Covid.

Asthma primarily makes it harder to breathe out due to the inflamed, narrowed airways and excess mucus - this is part of why I cough.  Or exhale sharply, which sounds like a sigh.  While exhaling is usually the main issue, the narrowed airways also make it difficult to breathe in, resulting in overall shortness of breath.

Today is the first day that I feel better than the day before, since the start of this cold.  I probably should not have written that - the "cold fairy" may bite me in the ass.  In the meantime, I am also doing the "tried and true": drinking plenty of liquids, taking naps, and having chicken noodle or turkey noodle soup.

 

Full Snow Moon...

 

Not much of a guess needed on how this full moon got its name.

 The explanation behind February’s Full Moon name is a fairly straightforward one: it’s known as the Snow Moon due to the typically heavy snowfall that occurs in February. On average, February is the United States’ snowiest month, according to data from the National Weather Service. 

Another theme of this month’s Moon names is scarcity. The Cherokee names of Month of the Bony Moon and Hungry Moon give evidence to the fact that food was hard to come by at this time. 

And how the full moon looked here in Phoenix...

 No snow here in the Phoenix area; it was 63º at 9:30 pm when I took this photo.  There is snow in Arizona this time of year, but you have to go into the mountains to the north and east part of the state to find it.  No, we're not looking to find it.  ;-)

For those interested in the specifics: full manual, f8 @ 1/1250th sec, ISO 200; telephoto zoom lens; Sony a6700 mirrorless camera.

 

A Rager...

 

informal•North American English

a wild party, typically involving the consumption of alcohol.

 

No, Joan and I did not have a party last night.  Judging by what I saw when I got up this morning, the cats did.  Beer cans and booze bottles strewn about.  Confetti everywhere.  Disco lights.

 

OK, I may be making that up.  Murphy's tower was tipped over.  The pad on the 4th level of the catio had been knocked down to the lowest level.  The cats had been rowdy during the night.

 

I think we'll all need a nap this afternoon.

 

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Getting Nekkid...

 

I've explained the difference between "naked" and "nekkid" before, but here it is again, in case you missed it: naked means you are unclothed; nekkid means you are unclothed and up to something.  Today is day ten since Stella's spay surgery; time for the pink onesie (surgical recovery suit) to come off...

 

 There is a lot of fur in need of being bathed.  Joan thinks she looks bigger now, without the pink onesie; still seems pretty scrawny to me, though she has filled out since she first came to live with us.

 

A Scream!

 

You know what they say about kids playing in the park?  Yeah, even though they're all making noise, you can tell when your kid screams. 

This morning, after getting up a second time - I'll get back to this thought, but I got up, fed the cats, did my morning routine, then took Murphy out in the yard.  Back inside, Joan made me a breakfast sandwich... and I went back to bed.  And, now back to getting up a second time. 

I was in the bathroom cleaning up, when I heard a cat scream coming from the living room.  It was definitely Stella - my first thought was: Murphy is hurting her! Looking into the living room, Stella was on top of her tower (we call them his and hers towers, but they can both use whichever one they want), screaming and hissing - no one around her!

Joan got there first.  Stella had somehow managed to get her leg tangled up in a ribbon that has been wrapped around the top perch on the tower for several cats.  She has chewed it and pulled it... it is kinda mangled.  But now, she got her leg caught between wraps - and the more she pulled, the tighter it got.

Joan was trying to untie the ribbon and said to me, "Bring me some scissors!"  I was almost in my underwear (not to sick to share TMI) as I went for the drawer with the scissors; but the time I got them, she had the ribbon untied.

Joan was soothing Stella.  And in a sweet move, Murphy jumped up on the tower and put his nose up on Stella... not in a threatening way.  I know this because I have seen him move on her in a threatening way. 

Crisis averted, no harm done.  Joan removed the ribbon from the tower.

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"My house is back!"

Time for us to bring the catio back.  Stella's incision is healing nicely.  We appreciate Steph and Dan loaning us the large crate they have for Dicha... they will be needing that back: Dicha goes in to get spayed next week.

So, today, Joan cleaned the crate and the catio and brought the catio back into the house (it has been in the shed, so it wasn't out in the weather).  It has 4 levels - more fun for an active cat, but the crate was better to keep Stella from jumping when she was recuperating.  She seemed excited to have the catio back...

 Yes she is still in her pink onesie; a few more days for that.  The vet recommended 10 days to two weeks, so we're getting close.

 

Feeling Better...

 

Me?  No, I'm still at the point in this crud where each day is worse than the day before.  But, little Stella is feeling chipper again after her spaying surgery: when Joan got up this morning, Stella had wriggled her way out of her surgery recovery suit.  Considering that it closes down her back with Velcro® and an adjustable neck opening, I have no idea how she could have done that.

Today, Stella is darting all around, playing with a bunch of toys, following Murphy around like an annoying little sister, and climbing both towers like a spider monkey.

She is especially fond of this "racetrack/scratcher"...

 There is a ball in that purple part that she can knock around (captive) and the center part is a scratch pad.  This one is a "family heirloom" from back in Izzy's time.  Izzy, Rufus, Murphy, and now Stella have all played with it.  The scratcher part has been replaced many times; we used to be able to buy an exact fit replacement, now we get as close as we can find in size and cut it to fit.

It makes our hearts happy to see her active and playing again.

She engages Murphy in play...

 Things will progress until he is getting the better of her, then she will scream, "Mom - he's picking on me!"  

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Somebody whose name I won't mention was getting a bit rowdy.  Joan decided on this instead of "time out"...

 "I didn't do nuthin'."  It did slow him down a bunch.

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I didn't do much today: eat, sleep, take cold meds, repeat.  I did feed cats.  Well, to be fair, Joan fed our two first thing this morning before I got up (that almost never happens).  I did watch our two cats play much of the day.  I finally decided to clean up around the crack of late afternoon.

Joan sat with Murphy and Stella for quite a while...

 I took Murphy outside for a while around his supper time.  It was a gorgeous day... I would have enjoyed getting out on two wheels, but my equilibrium is a bit off with this crud.  If felt good to get a few minutes of sunshine.

When I came back in, Stella was napping on the couch...

 Joan thought it was cute, too: she sent me this photo from a different angle...

 

A Man Cold...

 

For those not familiar with the term, it is: a cold/flu/covid/plague worse than anything you've had before.  If you ask Joan, she had the same thing last week; and while she had it, she cooked, cleaned, rotated the tires on all our vehicles (and that is a lot of work on the bikes), harvested a crop of potatoes and baled hay.  And, we don't have a field of potatoes or hay.

Sarcasm?  Ya think?

Whatever it is, it knocked me on my ass.  Worse today than yesterday.  Feels like it is settling in my lungs.  I am taking over the counter cold and flu stuff... which tends to make me feel like I'm moving through glue.

After getting kitties fed and sitting up for a bit, I went back to bed.  I am told that "sleep helps."  Maybe it's a delayed reaction?  Joan brought Murphy into the bedroom to lay with me.  "This will help relax you."  He stayed almost 4 seconds.

When I got up for the second time, Stella was laying on a cat pad on the couch.  I sat down next to the pad and put her on my lap.  She growled for a couple seconds then settled into a nice purr.  I guess Murphy didn't want Stella to have all the attention, so he hopped up and laid down on the pad...

 The three of us sat together for a half hour or so.  Not sure how Murphy and Stella felt about it, but it sure made me feel better.