I went to Mark's again to get together with him and some of his friends to make music. In honor of St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, we played an Irish song courtesy of his friend Tom... you may remember that Mark and I did a recording with Tom two years ago. Then it was on to the rest of us taking turns with picking songs - when it was my turn, I suggested a couple Van Morrison songs, since he from Northern Ireland. ;-)
That led to a couple Jimmy Buffet songs ('cause every guitar player knows some Jimmy Buffet songs) and others. In all, a more music productive get together than last week.
I left my guitar at home and played one of Mark's and one of his friend's... I took my motorcycle instead of the car, so Joan would have wheels. Well, that, and I wanted to ride my bike. The CTX ate up the Loop 101 just fine. We don't often have to mix it up with traffic with our riding, so I felt more like a commuter on this ride, with traffic doing 75 mph on both sides of me.
Big news flash: when I got home today, I had an e-mail from another source that they had a fender for my Vespa in stock. When I contacted the Vespa dealer who ordered the fender for me (8 months ago) to tell them I can get my hands on a fender... my fender magically appeared. It, um, arrived late yesterday. Right. So, now instead of not being able to get a fender, I can have two of them. I'll have to think how it will be best to handle that.
Speaking of handling things, after I left this morning, Joan trimmed Rufus's nails. This has always been a 2-person job, because the boy is big and strong. A couple months ago, Joan made a "sling" (not sure what else to call it) to suspend Rufus: I have held it up while she did the trimming. Lo and behold, she did not need me - she slipped him into the sling and hung it on a rod in our shower...
Contrary to how it looks, Rufus is not uncomfortable or stressed out. The sling is not putting any pressure on his throat. His torso is carrying all the weight and he can't jump or flail out of the sling. Just thing for getting those toenails manicured nicely. It reminds me a bit of when I've seen a helicopter rescue of a horse... well, except we don't have a helicopter and Rufus is a bit smaller than a horse. ;-)
Plus, he's a good boy!
2 comments:
My first reaction was, "Poor Rufus!". But if he is comfy in such a hammock, who am I to question the judgement of a cat?
Speaking of which, I need to trim the claws of both kitties. They had another inadvertent encounter yesterday. Duke got the upper hand with a surprise attack and was on top, but Lucy gave back in spades. She had a few tufts of fur out of place, but there was much more Duke fur laying loose on the floor afterward. No blood, no vet trips, but no real progress towards harmony and detente either. We now have screen doors installed on a couple of doorways inside the house, so compartmentalizing is easier. Duke is a good boy, but he just doesn't get that he must defer to Lucy and give her space.
Wow, Earl - fur flying! Hopefully Duke will "learn his place" sooner rather than later... sounds like some Alpha Male instincts at play there.
Now, regarding Rufus in his sling: I thought the same thing when Joan first proposed it. Then, when she made it and we used it, we found it was fast and easy to get his nails trimmed and filed. This was the first time Joan did it solo (I was at Mark's house), and she said it was better than having me hold the sling. His body is fully supported, so there is no pressure anywhere. Before using this sling, we could get a few nails and a time before Ruf would make a fuss. Now, using this: no fuss and no risk of trimming too short because of him pulling or pushing. When he slips out of the sling, he is just fine. It works.
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