Joan was working on some wardrobe boxes in the garage - it's pretty much what's left to go through before the car can go in there. While hanging some things in the closet in the music room (on Steph and Dan's side), Joan had a helper follow her back to our side of the house...
This is Tasha. She is a beautiful Siberian Forest Cat. I call her the Grande Dame of Steph's trio of felines. Tasha and Joan have a connection - when Steph first got Tasha years ago, we were here in Arizona. With Steph off to work, Joan and I spent some time with Tasha, getting her used to life in Steph and Dan's house.
I have posted some of her kitten photos - easily the prettiest feline kitten I've ever seen. And she has grown into a big beautiful girl. Bigger than Rufus or Steph and Dan's male Siberian, Alfie.
Tasha nosed around the house a bit. No doubt she could smell Rufus. She had seen Ruf when I walked him around to their side of the house and they looked at each other through the sliding screen door. No hissing, no fuss.
We still have Ruf's tower in the living room - Tasha had to check that out...
Everything was fine until Tasha felt the need to walk behind the TV (it's on that counter to the right in that photo)... we don't allow kitties on the countertops. Joan told her, "No,"... it was apparent that Tasha was not used to that word. So, she had to go back home.
"Are these kitty visits hard on you?" you ask. We miss Rufus all the time. But our grandkitties are very different from Ruf. It isn't a reminder of what we have lost. We're dealing. Joan and I each have our times of the day that are the toughest... I like to think we help each other through those times.
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Speaking of "our side" and "their side," I was visiting with Mark and friends yesterday while we took a pizza break. The premise of this NextGen home isn't well known. I was asked, "Do you have a common area?" No. They are completely separate, but share a couple walls. There is an adjoining door between each side. We have separate front doors, living rooms, kitchens, etc. Seems that when people hear "separate kitchens," it starts making sense. Well, except for living so close to your kid. ;-)
"How's it working out for you?" is a common question. Fine. No, we don't eat every meal together and we don't sit around in the evenings in one living room. So far, Steph has taken the time to open that adjoining door and tell us "Good night," when they're ready to go to bed. That's nice. They have jobs that start first thing in the morning, so they generally go to bed way before us.
Our yards are a "wrap around" situation: their yard is on the east side of the house, ours is on the south side. There is a paver sidewalk that goes all the way around the house. We each have a grilling (griddling) area on our own separate patio. The hot tub is closest to our door, but we went in on it together so it is available for all of us. I volunteered to do the regular upkeep on that, since I use it the most. The Tuff Shed we had put in has doors on either side, so we each have easy access.
We don't hear them from our side... although we did hear Tango "crying" when we let him come into our house a few days ago. I'm assuming they don't hear us, either.
It's a unique situation. As long as everyone is thoughtful, I don't see any issues. It has been better than I anticipated.
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